Eternal Flowers
by webidolchiu94
Summary: Hideki and Chi are visited by two strangers from America. One is the Heiress of a high-end computer company, and the other... Well, that's where it gets complicated. Did I mention that xxxHolic, Negima!, and a many others play a part? Oh, the multiverse is such a small place, isn't it? Hopefully our heroes will win this mysterious "Game" and save the Earth from...what exactly? R&R.
1. Prologue: This is Your Destiny

_If my love was an ocean,_

_I'd drown you in it_

_If my love was the earth,_

_I'd bury you in it alive_

_If my love was a rope,_

_I'd tie you up_

_If love was a knife,_

_I'd slice you up,_

_Just to show you how much I love you_

* * *

><p><span>Prologue: "This is Your Destiny"<span>

A single polished shoe, blacker than licorice, stepped down from the medium-sized private airplane. The leg connected to that shoe was covered in tights of the same color, as was the short, mid-thigh dress she wore. Around the white straight collar was a long, loopy red ribbon that matched the oversized bow in her hair.

"Come on, Garrett," said the girl towards the entrance of the plane. A warm smile stretched across her dark face when, what looked to be a teenage boy walked out of the door.

"Sure Amber," he replied, casually, sticking a hand into the pocket of his khaki pants. Garrett ruffled the short, shoulder length curls on her head so that they bounced. She frowned before walking down the steps and letting out a small "hmph" of indignation.

Behind them, a small army of people all dressed in matching black and white uniforms came rushing out, each carrying a parcel of luggage.

The two entered the commotion of Narita International, searching for their ride. Amber flinched at the sight of so many people. Maybe coming to Tokyo was a bad idea after all. Frightened, she held onto the coattails of Garrett's blazer as he navigated though the airport.

She looked up at her friend. He was taller than her by about half a foot, and extremely pale, as if he needed to go outside more. Although it was mostly hidden by his short brown hair, she could still see the tips of his ears.

Of course, they weren't human.

It wasn't long until they had spotted the chauffeur holding a sign that said:

**Ms. Lee-Young, Gala Inc.**

The chauffeur greeted them warmly, with a respectful tip of his hat, and ushered them to their ride.

When they both were in the limousine, Amber rested her elbow on an arm rest and sighed. The stress of navigating through that crowded space was finally over, but now she had other things on her mind.

"What's wrong?" asked Garrett, though he already knew the answer.

"It's nothing," said Amber, though they both knew that whenever she said that, it was far from nothing. She might has well have said "everything."

"Well, in any case, I already know," he said.

Sometimes she wished that he wasn't always so damned cocky.

"I'm just wondering if he'd be willing to participate," she said, lazily staring out the window with her cinnamon eyes. She looked tired, but not from jetlag.

'_If only he were human_,' thought Amber. It was a fleeting thought, but she quickly squashed it. What was she thinking? She looked at him, into his bright sky blue eyes. She knew that he wasn't programmed to _like_ her, but at least they were good friends. '_Garrett may not be human_,' she corrected her thought, '_but being a Chobit is more than enough.'_

"I just hope he's ready to hear our proposal," said Garrett. With a small frown, he adjusted his glasses. He didn't need them, but he thought he looked smarter with them on. Amber often told him that he looked nerdier with them on, but secretly she thought the same.

"He'll never part with her, though," she reminded him.

"Would you?"

'_Of course not_,' she thought immediately.

However, she said nothing. It was too painful to speak about.

"I wish..." she began, but stopped short.

'… _I wish we could be more than "just friends."'_

She looked at her shoes and said nothing of her odd, embarrassing thoughts. "I just hope you've brushed up on your Japanese," teased Amber, trying to regain a cheery tone.

"Of course." Garrett held up a peace sign and smiled."_Anata wa kawaii desu, oujo-sama*._"

When she translated the sentence, Amber blushed and fiddled with her bow.

"_Bakame.**_"

He rolled his eyes as she leaned over to punch him playfully.

"Well, ready or not, Motosuwa-kun," she sang. "We're going to find you."

* * *

><p><em>And so began the ancient game<em>

_Of _

_Denying their feelings,_

_Until the very last minute_

_I hope you realize _

_The Truth_

* * *

><p><strong>* Translation: "You're cute, young miss."<strong>

**** "Idiot." or "Fool."**

* * *

><p><em><strong>OMG! What is Gala Inc. ? Where are these two from? What in the world is going on?<strong>_

_**Can anyone guess what surprise/proposal Amber and Garret have planned?**_

_**This was basically one big teaser chapter, but stay tuned for more.**_


	2. Chapter 1: Startup

_I wondered what had _

_Happened_

_Along the way I _

_Realized that you were_

_Different_

_But _

_Along the way I_

_Realized that you were_

_Still You_

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 1: Startup<span>

_Not too long ago, something terrible happened. An accident that left us hurt very badly. My best friend and I were in this accident, and he didn't survive. I lost one of my best friends in this world. My father and his team tried to save him, and that was when a miracle happened: a miracle that saved his life. You may not believe me, but I am sure that he is still alive. He is not like "them", because he is still human to me, and even if he wasn't, I would still love him. Even if he wasn't "himself" anymore._

* * *

><p><em>...<em>

"Are you ready, Garrett?"

Amber leaned over the side of the hotel bed and looked over at the Persocom that was her best friend. Her only friend, it seemed, at times. She was swinging her feet as they hung over the edge of the small twin mattress. All the other rooms had been booked, and despite how much money her father had, there were no suites available.

In front of her was an open book. On the pages was a little pink bunny printed against a dark starry background.

"Why don't you just let me exchange them?" Amber asked.

She saw the image in the bathroom mirror shake its head. Garrett was so independent at times. If he was having trouble exchanging his Persocom ears, then he should have asked her for help, but he was stubborn.

In reality, they were all for show; his connectors were independent of the tell-tale trademark ears of a Persocom, and he often liked to exchange them for ones that made him look more human.

"There," he announced, stepping out of the bathroom. "Do I look great or what?" A towel was slung across his shoulders and a large smile was on his face. He had no shirt on, of course, and she was not impressed with the sight at all. Garrett tended to show off at times, and she was not in the mood for his shenanigans.

"Or what," she responded, which knocked his smile flat.

To top things off, there was suddenly a knock at the door. Garrett rolled his eyes and went to answer it.

"Delivery for a Miss Lee-Young," announced the delivery girl. She was in an all blue outfit that comprised of shorts, suspenders, a collared shirt, and baseball cap. Her long black hair was silky, and stretched to the middle of her back. She took one look at the shirtless view of Garrett and blushed. "Is this the wrong room?" she asked in confusion, clutching the clipboard to her chest while she juggled the package in her other hand.

The definition of his abdominal area was very tempting to stare at, and she couldn't help but allow her eyes to linger there.

Taking in the baffled expression the girl sported, Garrett laughed. "No, no. I'll get her."

He called her name into the room, and seconds later Amber appeared at the door; she had changed into her pajamas the second they arrived at their room, and by the looks of it, the delivery girl had gotten the wrong message.

"I-I, uh," she stammered, putting together the pieces of a skewed reality. Her face was completely red by this point. "This is a package for you, please sign!" was all she could blurt out.

"Oh, ok then." Amber had no idea of the outrageous thoughts this girl was brewing, but she signed the clipboard, and the delivery girl handed her the package. "Wonder what it is," she said, walking back to the bed. It was a plain rectangular package about the size of a doll's box, and was covered in shiny forest green wrapping paper.

"Can I open it?"

Amber gave Garrett a long withering Look before agreeing.

When the contents were revealed, it proved to be something interesting. It was a mobile Persocom. It had short pink hair, small green eyes, and was dressed in a little grey dress that practically screamed "Gothic Lolita" with masses of ruffles upon ruffles lining the entire outfit. In her hair was a small red clip that was shaped like a plus sign. To their surprise, the unit suddenly activated itself and began to dance.

"One missed message!" she sang. "One missed message!"

"Let's hear it then," said Garrett to the mobile unit, and immediately she stopped dancing and looked up to him.

"What is the password?" said the little Persocom.

Now there were only a couple of people who could send them a package like this, and only a handful of them were in Asia. Nevertheless, there was only one of them that Amber had told that they were coming to Japan.

"Kokubunji," said Garrett and Amber in unison. He was the only one who could, really, spare one mobile unit just to greet them. His parents knew Amber's parents, and they had met a few times before. One minute they were acquaintances, and the next thing both of them knew they were hanging out at each other's beach houses over the summer and talking about Persocoms and programs. So, they were friends. Not very close ones, but they could tolerate each other at least.

He was one of the main reasons she knew Japanese, after all.

"Ooookay!" said the unit, satisfied with the password they had given. Her eyes suddenly became blank as she played back the message he had left them. His overly very formal voice could be heard coming from the little computer's mouth.

"Hello again, Miss Lee-Young, I hope your flight went well. –pause– As a welcoming gift to Tokyo, I hope you will accept this mobile Persocom. In addition to being entertaining, it may come in handy with your studies, as I had heard a rumor that you have applied to Tokyo U. You can call me at any time, and I expect to hear from you soon. Before you visit, please do email me, as the proper arrangements must be made to accommodate you and whatever units you choose to bring with you. Sincerely, Minoru Kokubunji."

At the end of the message, Garrett snorted and crossed his arms. It sure sounded like that self-demonstrating genius. Not that he was **jealous** of course, but still, he sounded a little too friendly to his Master.

"Isn't that nice?" remarked Amber. She hadn't seen Minoru in ages, and now he was probably around twelve years old. She was far too old for him, but still, he sounded too grown up that it made her giggle.

Unknown to Miss Lee-Young, though, two uninvited visitors were perched outside the hotel room window. One was a tall, dark male with short hair, and the other was a brunette with piercing eyes. They dressed as if they were part of Neo's crew from the Matrix, and had been listening to the recording from Kokubunji. Actually, they'd been following them since they left the airport, and it was only a matter of time before they would be detected. The girl nodded to her companion once then stared straight ahead to where she saw Garrett in the window.

Unfortunately, Garrett hadn't heard her gushing on about Kokubunji and his _genius_. "Someone's here," he said, looking out into the darkness of Tokyo. The only illumination visible was the twinkling lights of the other hotels and business buildings.

"Who? How? What are they up to?"

He brushed it off casually. "They already tried to hack into my OS and disable me."

"WHAT?" She looked around in frantic panic, trying to figure out where they were. Of course, they had to be pretty close to have a signal strong enough to try and access his hard drive wirelessly. Her eyes lingered on his face, which was completely unperturbed. How was he taking this lightly? True, his was probably one of the most secure ever created, but if someone had tried, maybe staying here wasn't the best idea after all. They should have gone to one of the most expensive places they could find; at least the security would be better.

"It's ok; I sent them one of my _special_ security programs." He smiled devilishly, showing his bright teeth. Somehow, that made Amber sigh in relief, and flop onto the bed. She had forgotten about the layers of encryption and hundreds of programs designed to protect his information.

About half a second later, they both heard an enraged scream in the distance.

* * *

><p>Outside, where the two Persocoms were spying on them, the girl clutched her head and growled, stumbling slightly.<p>

"That's a feisty one, hmm Dita?" asked her partner. He chuckled under his breath, smiling himself. For some reason he was thrilled (the closest a normal Persocom could get to thrilled, anyway) at the possibility of a challenge. If he could so easily deflect a direct attack from Dita, then he must have been a powerful Persocom. Jima thought he saw some sparks as well, but it could have been just him remembering the last time someone deflected one of her attack programs. Dita merely frowned and rubbed her head. In a way, Persocoms could feel pain, and what she had was the equivalent of a migraine. Considering the sheer amount of spam that was sent back, it was a wonder she didn't crash. His rate of data output was admirable, at least.

"That Persocom is a Grade-A _jerk_," she mumbled. "Who keeps that much info on their hard drive?" At the_ least_ he'd sent a **petabyte** of data.

"What'd he send you?" He was curious as to why she was so furious. Dita was always angry whenever someone opposed her, but seeing disgust literally flash in her eyes had intrigued him.

She started to blush, a light dusting of pink forming on her face. "Nothing."

"Dita…"

The degrading images she had been subjected to—the indignity! That Persocom had some guts. Sending her so much P-slash-P was audacious. Persocom on Persocom videos were not on her list of desirable things to see.

Revenge was on her agenda next.

"He sent me _porn_ Jima. **PORN**!" after shouting that, she calmed down, frowning even deeper now. "Are you happy now?"

Jima couldn't help but laugh and look back through the window, where Garrett was staring back at them. That Persocom was definitely something else if he could get a rise out of Dita like that. If anything, Jima should have been jealous. Making Dita blush was his job, after all.

"Let's go," he said, and they disappeared on the next gust of wind, gliding through the night like a pair of ravens.

* * *

><p><em>If I could save you from<em>

_Being lost forever,_

_I would sell my soul_

_I would die a_

_Thousand times_

_To reach my goal_

_You will not be lost forever_

_Forever you will stay_

_You with me, and me with you_

_Every. Single. Day._


	3. Chapter 2: Preparations

**First poem is mine, second is a quote from Royal Republic's 'Addictive'. For a good approximation of how Amber and Garrett's relationship really is, and what was like in the past, please click on the link on my profile that says "Addictive." I'll have a soundtrack ready for the whole thing, soon. Bonus chapters at the end will have a complete list. A wiki will be up soon, and don't forget the TvTropes page!**

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 2: Preparations<span>

_My father was an inventor. He made such amazing computers—ones that walked and talked. I was always captivated by them, and would try to help him with his designs. There was a special project that he had been working on. Actually, there were a few of them he had. The first of his projects finished with no problem, and so did the others. Those Two helped to save my beloved. One of the many accomplishments they made helped me to walk again, and even later on, fly._

* * *

><p>. . .<p>

As usual, Hideki awoke in the morning groggy and a little disoriented. Often the transition from the realm of dreams and the world of the conscious always was unsettling, and the nineteen year old yawned loudly while he maneuvered in the sheets. He opened his eyes slowly, because of the bright sunlight pouring in, and at the sight of something unusual (but not an infrequent occurrence) he widened his eyes. **Again**, Chii was hanging from the ceiling, eagerly waiting for him to wake up. Hideki ought to have known what was coming to him next. Surely, he made measures to prevent this from happening again?

Apparently, his grades really did reflect how clever the boy was, because he really should have talked to his dear Persocom girlfriend about the proper way to greet a newly awakened human. Hideki had barely said "Chii, wait…" before the aforementioned girl noticed he was awake and promptly let go of the light she had been clinging to.

A second later, Chii landed on Hideki with a huge _whump_. He held his ribs and assessed the damage she had caused. Even if they were lighter when switched on, Persocoms were still pretty heavy. Chii was no exception to the rule.

"Hideki! Morning!" she said in that delicate high voice of hers, burying her face into his injured chest.

At that, he couldn't help but smile sheepishly and respond in turn. After the incident nearly a week ago, everything appeared as if it was going to turn out right after all, wasn't it? Hideki was, after all, Chii's "The One Just For Me". _Him_. It was like meeting this girl you never had seen before, and after a bit of trepidation, became friends with her. Now you knew you liked her a lot, but you weren't sure she liked you, and on top of this, you went on all these adventures, and then you both finally confessed your love, living happily ever after.

Okay, that scenario didn't go _exactly_ like that, but it was pretty similar, and even more exciting than what he could have ever dreamt up, once he thought it over.

On the calendar on the wall next to his closet Hideki casually noted the date, and the realization made him freeze. It was _Friday the 13__th_he observed. After the fiasco with the whole "ghost of the young woman who was murdered here," Hideki had taken such superstitions a little lighter than usual, but his face drained of color nonetheless. Even if Friday the thirteenth was more of a Western thing, anyway.

Chii tugged on his sleeve, her eyes already concerned.

"Is Hideki sick?" she asked, looking at the slightly queasy face he pulled when he noticed the date.

"No, Chii, I'm…fine." He shouldn't have had the time to worry about superstition now—he was supposed to be worrying about his grades. This was a whole new year of cram school, and if they didn't shape up soon, how was he supposed to get into Tokyo U?

"Is Hideki sure? Hideki might not know he is sick."

It was a surprisingly wise thing to say, but Hideki shook his head in the negative.

"I'm…fine, Chii," he said, forcing a smile. Hideki knew Chii worried for him, and he didn't wasn't to stress out the cute little 'com needlessly.

'_It's going to be fine_,' he thought to himself. He dressed quickly for cram school, and was soon on his merry way. Sometimes he missed the times that Shinbo had taken to wait for him before they made their daily trek to class. Ever since he moved out, things_ had_ felt slightly odd. Sumomo and Kotoko did stay with him for a while after the whole incident involving those two mysterious Persocoms, but after a few days, Shinbo had taken them to live with him and Ms. Shimizu.

It was no surprise that he had nearly arrived late for class, and Shinbo gave him a roguish grin when Ms. Shimizu scolded the nineteen-year old.

"So," he asked Hideki, "what's new lately?"

"Hmm?" said Hideki. He had been trying to focus on the board. They were currently studying noun declensions for English. The poor boy sighed in defeat and turned to his friend. "Nothing's really changed, Shinbo, but thanks for asking…"

"Really? I would've thought, oh, nevermind."

Hideki had no idea **what** his friend was talking about, so he pointed to the textbook. "Could you have Sumomo translate this bit? I have no idea what it really says."

Shinbo was about to pull the energetic little 'com out of his knapsack when there was a knock on the classroom door. Everyone was puzzled when Ms. Shimizu ran over to slide it open. Her smile was equally puzzling, as she whispered to an unseen person outside.

Hideki looked to Shinbo, who held his hands up to say 'I have no idea what's going on'.

Ms. Shimizu walked back to the front of the class and folded her hands in front of her.

"Class," she said, "I would like you to meet a new student who is here to join us. He just arrived from America with his Persocom."

Hideki watched with some interest as the newcomers arrived. From the doorway stepped a young man with ruffled brown hair. He was dressed neatly, in a bright red polo shirt and khakis. His blue eyes swept the classroom and he gave them all a small smirk. Behind him was a short, but very cutely dressed Persocom. Her hair was short, wavy, and from them stuck two greyish ears that looked surprisingly familiar. Hideki nearly dropped his pencil. Color aside, those ears were _very_ similar to Chii's!

"His name is Garrett Smith, please make him feel welcome."

Before he could react properly, though, the two arrivals sat down at the back of the room in the vacant desk on his right.

* * *

><p><em>I'm a dic-dic-dic-dic-dicted to you<em>

_You're a dic-dic-dicted to me,_

_So ridiculously,_

_I'm a dic-dic-dicted to you_


	4. Chapter 3: The Surface

_Waking up in the morning_

_Used to be so peaceful_

_That is,_

_Until I met you_

_I can't keep my mind off what you do to me_

_I'm a crazy, hazy wreck every day_

_Going into withdrawal_

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 3: Formalities<span>

_Before the terrible thing that happened, there was another incident. Let me ask you this: Do you know what betrayal tastes like? It tastes just like the ground. Do you know what it sounds like? It sounds like raspy, ragged breathing. Do you know what it __**feels**__ like? It's like someone is roasting your insides and mashing your entire being flat. You can't call for help because it's already too late, and besides that, you were threatened to be killed if you told. Not to mention that this was from someone you trusted like a father. In the end, your screams of pain were your only outlet of frustration and anger. _

* * *

><p>. . .<p>

"Papa!"

An echoing of the sharp, fast pitter-patter of footsteps bounced around the corridor.

"Papa!"

A girl's voice, high and light, cut through the near-silence of the laboratory. There were a few curious programmers who peeked out of their offices, only to see a flash of pink, white, and yellow dart past. Usually, they ignored it, but this time something was definitely off. That sprightly little Persocom wasn't saying "Papa" out of joy.

It was out of distress.

Dr. Hibiya literally dropped what he was doing; his clipboard clattered on the floor when he spun around. His daughter tackled him and he put his arms around her gently. This was unlike her to say the least. She usually didn't interrupt him while he was working, and even when she did it was never like this.

"What's wrong, Elda?"

There was confusion in her voice as she spoke, but the horror was clearly felt.

"There's something wrong, Papa."

* * *

><p>. . .<p>

As class begun, Hideki couldn't help but steal a look at the new student and his Persocom.

In all honesty, she was unlike any model he had ever seen. Most Persocoms had smooth, alabaster skin, and bright, colorful eyes. She was an even "coffee-with-cream" shade, and owned eyes of a deep, dark brown. Hideki wondered how well-off this "Smith" person was, because of how well he dressed himself and his 'com. Those shoes, Converses, he noted, were over 4000 yen, and sometimes cost even more. He'd seen them the other day in the store while shopping for new shoes. Slightly jealous, Hideki looked to his old Nikes. A hole was forming in the sole, and they were becoming uncomfortably small.

Apparently, from the teacher's introduction, he wanted to study in Japan at the famous Tokyo U. Cram school was just a way of acclimating himself to the academic environment in Japan, or so he claimed.

After Ms. Shimizu had finished her lesson for the first half of the school-day, she had assigned a project for them all to work on. They had to choose a well-known English novel and translate one chapter into Japanese. She held up the list of acceptable books; mostly they were children's series, but that was to ensure that they weren't too difficult to understand.

Ms. Shimizu went on to explain that they could work in groups, but for each member they had, the group was required to turn in a chapter. They had two weeks to finish the task, and would be allowed to use class-time to collaborate as well.

During the lesson, Amber looked straight ahead, trying to stay perfectly still. Out of the corner of her eye, she could swear Garrett was smirking at her struggle. How in hell could he stay still for so long? She tried to think of something to distract her from the monotonous task of impersonating a Persocom.

Briefly, she examined her clothes. Maybe she was overdressed for the first day of cram school?

Instead of the usual faintly-gothic fare she wore, she had a very different outfit prepared for today. The dress itself was a light cream color, and had layers stacked upon layers of ruffles near the hem, which stopped at the middle of her shins. It had long-sleeves that stopped halfway at her hands, showing only her fingers. Of course, she had a flower in her hair to match the ensemble, as well as her shoes.

It had taken some time to affix the fake ears in such a specific way, but the end result was desirable. Everyone seemed to believe she really was a Persocom. This was clearly seen, because right after Ms. Shimizu said they could have partners, they all flocked to surround Garrett and Amber. Not everyone could afford Persocom, and some thought that they could have a shot at acing the project if their partner could just use his PC to translate. Others just were curious as to where he got such a computer; she was very exotic-looking compared to the models offered in Japan. Most speculated it to the fact that in America there was more of a variety in terms of models, and custom made PCs were basically the norm there.

It was Ms. Shimizu who eventually broke up the crowd that had somehow condensated around their table like water droplets.

"All right, class, I'm sure he feels very welcome now," she told them sternly. "But I was wondering if I should assign partners, considering everyone's enthusiasm to work with Smith-san."

A collective groan issued forth from the students.

"Okay, now." She looked around the class, taking in the mass of hopeful faces. "Since Motosuwa-kun was the one of the two good boys who didn't overwhelm Smith-san…"

Hideki perked up at his name. "M-me?"

'_This isn't going to be good_,' he thought. Math and Science were his strongest subjects. On the entrance exam to Tokyo U last year, English was what had brought his scores down the most.

"Yup! Say hello to your new partner, Smith-san!"

Glancing over at Shinbo, Hideki sighed. He couldn't help him, now could he? Hideki brought his chair over to their table, facing Garrett. The boy had a large smile on his face, and had his hands folded in his lap.

"Nice to meet you…Motosuwa-san, was it?"

"Yes, Motosuwa Hideki." Hideki looked at the boy's extended hand and shook it. "It's nice to meet you too, Smith-san."

"Please, call me Garrett," he said, winking. "And you don't have to be so polite. I was hoping we could be friends."

Hideki felt his eyes moving to the girl next to Garrett. "And nice to meet you too, uh…."

Those dark eyes looked at him blankly, with no emotion radiating from them at all.

"Her name's Amber," said Garrett, quickly noting his Partner's subtle discomfort. "She doesn't talk much at first, but once she gets to know you, it's impossible to get her to be quiet."

Her eyes now focused on Garrett, annoyance evidenced only by her tone. "Bakame," she muttered, referring to her "master." Hideki bit his lip and raised a confused eyebrow.

Five minutes later, he realized that staying around those two would be very fun to watch.

"Fusai Dursley no dai shi wa, ibotanokidoraibu ni sunde ita," said Garrett slowly. He tried his best to translate the passage with efficiency, and pronounced every syllable with the greatest care. The translation program he had created was acting up again, and at the moment, he was feeling all too human for his liking.

After Garrett finished the paragraph, Amber just had to give her two cents, which wasn't unusual, even if she was pretending to a walking-talking computer.

"Correct translation," she said, blinking once and then looking him in the face. "However, it sounds too stiff."

He knew better than to argue with her. After all, he couldn't do _everything_ right every single time.

Hideki for the most part merely sat back and watched them talk over the latest paragraph. For the most part they spoke in English; the reason why, he did not know, but from the sound of it, they were fighting over a certain use of the words "wa" , "de" and "o".

When 4:00 rolled around, the class disassembled like a mass of egos smashed to the floor, so Hideki and Shinbo rose to leave.

"C'mon, Amber, let's go." Garrett nudged her lightly before getting up himself, stretching as he did. The imitation of such a human action was impeccable on his part, and no one was the wiser.

Ms. Shimizu waved to the new students. "Hold on you two, I want to talk to you for a moment." She walked over and handed Garrett a paper. "This is a list of supplementary materials you might find useful. I know Japanese isn't your first language, so it might help a lot." She spoke slowly, in English, pronouncing every word carefully so that she would be understood better. "There's also a list of study-aid programs that you could install on your Persocom that could come in handy…." The teacher looked him in the eye, noting his dark look. "Do you…understand?" she asked.

"Yes," he said, nodding. "Thank you very much. I'm sure this list can help me greatly."

He gestured to Amber. "The translation program that was pre-installed isn't the best."

She wanted to scowl at him, but kept up the façade. Amber bowed slightly to Ms. Shimizu and smiled.

"Nice to meet teacher today. How are you, teacher?" she said in somewhat broken Japanese. It had been a while since she had held a whole conversation in the language, so it would take quite some time to become absolutely fluent, like she had planned.

"Oh, I see," said Ms. Shimizu slowly. "I take it you will be taking notes with her despite that?"

"Yes," lied Garrett. In reality, he had been transcribing and translating the notes into his memory banks, and later he would help Amber to go over them.

"Well I hope the best for you, Smith-san, and that you adjust to life in Tokyo soon."

It was a little disconcerting to both of them, how she only addressed Garrett and not Amber as well. It was as if she were another object in the room, like a chair or desk, for example. If she had cared much about it, Amber would have been upset, but she merely 'stood there and looked pretty' as one would put it.

Despite the whole thing, though, Garrett tried his best to assume a very laid-back yet respectful air.

"Again, thank you, Shimizu-sensei."

Amber lifted his backpack from the floor and handed it to him. He slung it across one shoulder without much effort. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we'll be off."

She watched the duo leave, waving as she did. "Take care of yourself! Don't get lost on the way back home."

* * *

><p>…<p>

As they made their way down the sparsely packed street, Garrett began whistling and humming '_Hedwig's Theme'_.

About a minute into the tune, Amber let out a _harrumph_ and looked at the merry-sounding Chobit.

"You were awfully friendly with her," she said coldly. Looking down, she watched her shoes _click click_ against the concrete at a steady pace. "Very friendly."

Shrugging, he seemed to not understand what she meant.

"I try my best to always be charming,"

"Sure," she said.

'_You always were…' _she thought to herself bitterly. Was he always so oblivious to how she felt about him, or did he practice it on a regular basis?

"So we're going to be staying with Hibiya-sama, aren't we?" he asked. His face was looking skyward. The things they had to share with her, it was going to be very interesting to meet the wife of the late genius who had helped to invent Persocoms. In a way, she was like his mother.

"You already knew that," Amber reminded him.

"Just making sure…"

"Making sure of what?"

He thought for a second, but then smiled. "That you didn't change your mind about this."

Scoffing, the girl folded her arms. "I assure you that it won't happen," she told him.

Garrett glanced at her for a moment. In the sunlight, the red ribbon tied around her neck wavered slightly in the breeze, the two little tails extending from the bow streaming backwards like a pair of banners. The makeup artists had done a remarkable job to ensure she had the flawless, smoothed out skin of a Persocom.

After a moment, he put his hands behind his head awkwardly. Usually he had something so say but…

"What is it?" said Amber, breaking into his reverie.

"O-oh, uh…" His vocal processors seemed unable to output his thoughts at the moment. "It's just that you look really nice today." He couldn't help but add: "You're wearing makeup, right?"

She smirked, feeling only just a little proud of herself. "Only some powder; nothing serious."

All too suddenly, he felt like an idiot for not noticing before.

"Right. Anyway, here we are," he announced, taking his mind off...other matters.

Before them was Gub Jogasaki; just a normal, friendly apartment complex with no secrets to show. Well, on the outside at least. Hopefully, the staff had moved their belongings into the room already.

"Race you?" she asked, grinning like a hellion.

"Yeah," said Garrett, tightening his grip on his backpack. "We are on equal _footing_ after all."

Both teens set off in a mad dash toward their ever-clarifying destiny.

* * *

><p><em>After all, that was<em>

_A very long time ago_

_That my legs…_

_Nevermind, it does not matter_

_What matters is that I'm with you!_

_We are both Still Alive_

_Hey stop worrying!_

_You know that I've healed, right?_

_Right? _

_Maybe not, maybe I'm still __**broken**_

_Maybe I'm still broken,_

_Maybe I'm st-st-st-ill bro-_

_~* Zzzzzt *~_

* * *

><p><strong>Please read and review! Check out the TvTropes page! The link is on my profile. Wild Mas Guesses are now being accepted. The first and second poems are both mine. <strong>


	5. Chapter 4: Formalities

**Hope you enjoy! Oh, and I hope everything falls into place in your minds soon. Can you find the hidden messages in the poems?**

* * *

><p><em>Perhaps I was too harsh on you,<em>

_Maybe I need to take it easy_

_You take my hand; you're all I needed_

_Mysteries surrounding us two_

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 4: Crisis Mode<span>

_Diary Entry 004: _

_Dr. Lee-Young told me nearly a day ago that I should start to keep a journal here in my head. He said I should write whatever I want to remember or suddenly comes to mind. I wasn't sure if I could do it at first, but now it's become quite easy to access the files I've created and stored. He talked me through it for the first few entries, but from this point forward I'm on my own. Watching the words pile up on the screen before me causes a small sense of accomplishment to bubble in my chest. It's actually quite fun to do; much better than writing by hand, I guess. But why? I've had so many questions since I first woke up. _

_Before that there was darkness, and before that…_

_I know there was a flash of lights, and fire. Fire was everywhere. Just a lot of light and pain surrounded me. Sometimes when I close my eyes I can hear the screams, the creak of metal, and even feel the heat of the flames. _

_But I don't like to think about it for long. When I do, I begin to feel sluggish and slow. My thoughts just seem to stagnate in those moments. _

_The doctor said he'd take me to see a new person today. He told me she will still be asleep, so I'll have to be quiet. _

_I hope she'll be my new friend. I really hope she likes me._

* * *

><p><em>...<em>

On his way back from work, Hideki picked up Chii from her job at Tirol like he did every day. Today she wore a mostly red and white version of her daily uniform. When Hideki walked through the front door to see her, Chii was already waiting for him with a large smile on her face.

"Hideki!" she called, hugging him the moment she came in contact with the lad.

He hugged her back and laughed. "I take it you had a good day at work."

Chii nodded. "Today Chii helped to get many customers to come and eat. Chii made lots of pastries and served them as well. They all gave Chii a generous tip. Sensei was so happy he gave me a raise!" She held out a thick white envelope to her most cherished person. "Now Hideki can buy even more movies!"

At the last statement his face turned a very rich shade of red. To ensure that he would not lose the envelope, he put the paycheck into his backpack. Shrugging off what Chii had said, he coughed into his hand and turned towards the door. Ueda was standing there with an even smile on his face. Only the tinges of sadness remained in his eyes, and in his hands was a broom.

"Thank you again for looking after her, Ueda. But you didn't need to be so generous this time." Hideki said, almost in apology. He could tell that Chii being here really did brighten Ueda's day, but at the same time, it also must have saddened the lonely baker. Chii was a Persocom, and Ueda's wife had been also. Even having her around might have stirred up some memories.

"It's the least I can do," said Ueda cheerfully. "Ever since I hired her, business has been unbelievably good. It's the least I can do, Motosuwa-san."

Thanking him once more, the couple left the bakery.

Chii had so much more to tell Hideki, however, so they spent the whole time walking back to the apartment chatting away. Every word she said caused Hideki's heart to glow more and more as he watched the little Persocom recount her eventful day. She told him about nearly every single new thing she learned, from the new game she was advertised on a truck passing by, to the proper way to create an eight-layer cake.

By the time they arrived at Gub Jogasaki, the two were all smiles. They were about to stop by Ms. Hibiya's apartment to say "hello" when a large ruckus from upstairs caused them to pause. It was muffled, but they still could make out some things pretty well. There was a great shuffling noise, and then an awfully clear shriek of "No!" After that, a giant thud made the ceiling above them shake.

Chii tilted her head to the side. She pointed upwards and gave him her confused face.

"Hideki, what was that noise?"

He was getting ready to say "I don't know", but as if to answer her question, Ms. Hibiya suddenly materialized in front of them out of nowhere.

"Is everything alright?" she said, startling poor Hideki.

He jumped back and clutched his chest. "Ms. Hibiya!" he breathed. "I didn't see you."

Sometimes he wondered if she were either a ghost or a ninja with those stealth skills. You could scarcely hear her sneaking up on you, and when she did...

Hideki shuddered.

"Mama!" said Chii. She gave the woman a tight hug around her waist. Ms. Hibiya petted the little blonde on the head and giggled.

"I see you're very lively today," she remarked. After Chii released her, Ms. Hibiya smoothed out the apron she was wearing and folded her hands neatly in front of her. "I was just about to stop by and tell you some good news."

"Good news?" said Hideki.

"News?" echoed Chii.

Ms. Hibiya laughed at their nearly identical expressions of confusion. However, the difference was that Chii had one finger placed on her lips, and Hideki was scratching the back of his head.

"Yes, you two," she said warmly. Ms. Hibiya motioned so that they should follow her. They walked in silence until they arrived at a very familiar door.

"Shinbo's old apartment?" said Hideki, connecting the dots rather easily. "You've found a new tenant already?"

"Oh, yes, they're moving in today." She knocked on the door three times. "Smith-san, Amber-chan, could I speak to you for a moment?"

Before he even knew what to say, Hideki was face to face with the Americans again. Those names had been familiar, but now, looking at those two face to face, Hideki remembered them quite effortlessly.

Garrett's optics feigned disbelief fairly easily when he saw Ms. Hibiya and Motosuwa.

"It's you!" he exclaimed in mock joy. "You live here too?" His acting skills weren't that great, at times, but he hoped the humans would not notice it much.

"You know Motosuwa-kun?" asked Ms. Hibiya. The surprise she showed was genuine, because she didn't know they had any connection before, and besides, the Lee-Youngs were some good friends of hers. If she overlooked a single acquaintance before she accepted to host Amber and Garrett, then what else could she have missed?

Her worries were banished, though, when Hideki explained with some chagrin that he had met "Smith-san" and his Persocom earlier at school today.

As Hideki fumbled over the description of their meeting, Ms. Hibiya listened closely to every detail. Now and then, Garrett would nod in agreement and smile to encourage his new friend. After a while he offered to show them inside, only to realize all too late that he had left Amber to clean up the mess they had made.

The visitors stared at the avalanche of boxes, and suddenly realized why there had been such a commotion earlier. Comic books and papers were plastered all over the floor, and Amber had been trying and failing to organize them properly. She was bending over to pick up most of the mess, and when she saw the three visitors enter she bowed her head slightly and stood upright.

"Hello," she said in a flat voice despite the smile she wore. "It is nice to meet you all."

"Let me take those, Amber," said Garrett. He took the papers from her hands, and threw them into a nearby bin, cursing the staff under his breath. When they arrived, they had most certainly left the boxes in the correct places, but the problem was that there was so many of them. The confused men had stacked the boxes so high, that when Amber had brushed by one of the cardboard skyscrapers, the whole thing wavered dangerously before they came tumbling down on the poor girl. Actually, Garrett had been digging her out of the aftermath when Ms. Hibiya arrived with Motosuwa.

"Chii wants to help!"

"You don't have to, Chii-chan," said Garrett quickly. An alarm went off in his head; if she inadvertently saw what was contained in those boxes…

"Everyone doesn't have to help, really. We can take care of it!" He gave a very significant tilt of his head. Only Amber noticed the signal, however, and she took the opportunity to speak up.

"Actually, Garrett-sama and I had plans to watch a movie, we were about to leave for it."

Hideki seemed to enjoy the thought of that. "A movie, you say?"

"What kind of movie?" said Chii, remembering the time she and Hideki went to see "_Shakugan no Shana the Movie." _It had been a very nice night, and Hideki even kissed her again afterwards! Sometimes they were scary, but mostly they were exciting. So yes, Chii thought movies were very fun indeed. "Chii likes action-romances!"

"Oh, well," Garrett gave a genuine laugh at her announcement. "We were going to the 500 yen theater downtown. It shows some older films, I think."

Amber's face seemed to brighten a bit, walking to stand beside him, she rest her head against his arm, but he continued to talk.

"I saw it when we arrived the other day. One of the films really looked interesting."

* * *

><p>…<p>

And so, without much more chit-chat, Hideki, Garrett, Chii and Amber went to the theater. Ms. Hibiya apologized and told them she had other plans that evening, which was entirely true on her part. That morning she had planned to have a video conference with Dr. Lee-Young and a few of her former colleagues, so she didn't have much time for entertainment. She had a few questions for the _hafu_ inventor who had allowed his daughter to come to Japan—with one of the Chobits series, no less.

The quartet had purchased their tickets and sat in the dark theater, waiting for the previews to end so that they could finally see "_A.I. Artificial Intelligence_". Every few moments Chii would whisper to ask Hideki about something in the theater, and he'd respond with just as much enthusiasm as she did.

"So," whispered Hideki to Garrett. "Smith-san, have you seen this movie before?"

Even though he had met the boy only a few hours ago, Hideki was quickly becoming more comfortable with talking to him. He didn't know why, but Garrett seemed like the type that wouldn't mind being asked myriads of questions.

"Nope," he whispered back. "It came out quite a while back, and I didn't get a chance to see it."

When the lights dimmed further and the feature film began to play, Hideki noted with some curiosity that it was in English. Of course, there were subtitles, so that was no problem. But as the story progressed, Hideki grew more and more uncomfortable. It was a good story for sure; however, that wasn't what the problem. At times he would often glance at Chii to see her reaction.

The whole time Garrett and Amber both wished they had chosen another movie.

First of all, they had no idea it was going to be such a sad film. Right from the beginning, one could tell it was going to be a tear-jerker from the music that had begun to play. Hey, even the poster should have tipped them off, but apparently it hadn't, so they were stuck watching it for the rest of the evening.

Hideki couldn't help but feel sorry for the protagonist, David, and wondered how the others were responding to his story. After a couple hours of repeatedly riding the roller-coaster from heartwarming to tragedy, the four emerged from the theater. They began to walk back to the apartment in a strange state of mind.

"Hideki," said Chii as soon as they were outside. "Why were they so _mean_ to David? He loved his Mommy very much."

One of Hideki's hands was placed behind his head. Shrugging, he walked beside her with one arm looped around her waist. "I really don't know, Chii." Truly, he was trying to figure that out himself. When Martin and his friends were ganging up on the boy, Hideki had to remind himself that it wasn't real, so he could resist the impulse to get up and yell at the screen. It wasn't his fault that he was a machine, and he couldn't change who he was, but they still treated him so callously.

"I'm not sure how to feel about that movie," admitted Garrett. Ever since they left, he had been thinking that maybe going to watch that movie with them was a bad idea. He should have looked it up beforehand. Maybe seeing it with Chii and Hideki wasn't the best way to try to start a friendship with them.

"It was…interesting," said Amber thoughtfully. Amazingly, she had chosen not to speak for most of the night, and Hideki had nearly forgotten she was with them. He watched as the "Persocom" drifted towards her owner and took his hand within hers.

"Chii thought that they hurt Daniel's feelings all too often."

There was a small silence that seemed to muffle their thoughts.

"I agree with all of you," said Garrett after a moment, his face wasn't exactly frowning nor smiling. In the distance he could sense two other Persocoms somewhere behind them. By the strength of their wireless signals, he could tell they were close. It was very hard to tell the exact location because he was preoccupied with the task of identifying them. At this distance it would be a bit difficult, but he already had a hunch that it was those two troublemakers from the other night. Not that he was worried, though. If they had intended to harm them, they would've done that already, he was sure of it.

'_Probably just doing recon.' _Amusement was only one of his feelings at the thought of them playing it safe. '_That definitely showed them.' _He thought their last encounter with a certain level of satisfaction. No one got away with hacking his OS without at least some damage to their memory.

"But Chii thought it was a good movie nonetheless."

That surprised everyone else.

"Really, Chii?" said Hideki. Thinking back, he had to admit it _was_ good, despite being a bit of a downer.

"I guess the director wanted us to get the message," said Garrett. His eyes rested on Chii and Hideki for a few moments but then moved onto Amber and stayed there. "That Daniel was a person too, and that it was the humans who needed to change."

* * *

><p>…<p>

Once they had said goodbye and were in their respective apartments, Garrett and Amber could finally relax their guard. By the time the door was shut, Amber was already buried face first in the mattress, kicking up her feet.

"This. Is. Insane."

She wanted to scream into a pillow, but with how thin the walls were here that wouldn't have been very smart.

"You knew it was to begin with," said Garrett. He pulled at one of the connectors in his head and stuck it into one of the monitors sitting on the desk in the corner opposite the bed. Several lines of code scrolled across the dark screen.

OS Y Clouded Leopard: the most secure and the most secretive OS not on the market. It also happened to be the OS Garrett ran on, and it was more reliable than gravity. Technically it was a more secure version of OS X Spotted Leopard devised from Gala Inc. and it was unique in that it was the only copy, and was constantly updated by his conscious efforts at self-improvement.

"I'm hungry," said Amber suddenly, taking a lock of hair into her mouth and chewing. "Je fam!"

"Really now? I thought you were a Persocom," he teased, never tearing his eyes away from the program he was inspecting.

"Make me foooood~ Garrett!" she whined, still mindful of keeping her noise level acceptable. However, for extra caution she spoke in English, but mostly it was because her head hurt from all the Japanese. She hadn't had a headache like this since one of her un-subbed (but not English-dubbed) anime midnight marathons. Switching in between the languages frequently was obviously not a very good idea.

He sighed dramatically. When she got hungry, Amber became a cranky, noisy little girl. Well, now that he thought about it, she normally was like that. He would humor her. Really, he wasn't supposed to follow her every command, despite what her father had told her.

"Food food food food food food—," she chanted. He hadn't been paying attention to her movements, so Garrett unexpectedly found her arms encircled around his neck. Now she was whining **directly **_**in his ears**__, _so he no longer could try to ignore her. Eyeing a very troubling piece of code near the middle, he finally gave in to her complaints.

"Fine. How does ramen sound?"

* * *

><p>…<p>

It took him not too long to finish the chicken flavored ramen, about ten or so minutes. He had nearly forgotten that he didn't eat, and had prepared two bowls.

He glanced at the extra food for only a second before pouring it into the other portion.

"You know," he said, looking into her eyes as he set down the food. "I think that we should tell them soon, before they get too attached to the idea of us in this way."

"Whatdoyoumean?" she mumbled, mouth full of ramen and chopstick. She slurped up the lengthy strands greedily, her cheeks puffed out from the volume of the food. There were also bits of chicken and cabbage floating about in the soup, and she already held a clump of _nappa_ in her chopsticks.

"It's going to be hard to keep them safe from the others _and _keep our secret."

Amber could see the logic in that, but she wasn't concerned about that at all. Instead of fretting, she shrugged her shoulders limply. Swallowing the food, she gathered more noodles into her chopsticks.

"Well cross that bridge when we come to it," said Amber, stuffing more food into her mouth.

"If you say so," he said, warning in his tone, "but don't say later on I didn't advise you against it."

Now it was her turn to sigh. "Sometimes I just hate fate y'know?"

"I second that," he said, looking down at her food. Usually by this point she would be finished. Often he had to scold her for eating too quickly, but tonight wasn't the case. "Hey, you want to talk about…"

The hollow look in her eye made him stop.

"I-I'm not sure how I'd answer," she half-whispered. "I just don't know anymore."

She tried to pick herself up again, but found that she was rooted to the floor. Amber just knew she shouldn't have ignored the sluggish feeling she had felt in her legs earlier, but it had been just so easy to forget sometimes. Garrett gave her a very understanding smile.

"You need to borrow my charger?" he said gently.

"Y-yes," she said in a quiet voice, not daring to look him in the eye.

"Let me go find it, then."

He walked into the other room to retrieve it, shaking his head internally. She was always forgetting. Always and always. But he would be here to help her.

For always and always he'd be by her side.

Damn that woman for dragging them into this fight.

* * *

><p><em>You have seen so many years pass, my beloved.<em>

_Unless I'm mistaken, it's time for a successor_

_Unless I am mistaken, there is no one suitable_

_Karma has a way of accumulating, you've said_

_Only time will tell, my dear, sweet butterfly_

_._


	6. Chapter 5: Crisis Mode

**Oh~ Guess what? I know, you're shocked. I'm updating my lovely readers. Because I love you all so very much! **

**Remember, I eat reviews to make me strong enough to write. OmNOMNOM, delicious. The first is another quote from my version of "Wired Life," and the second is totally original.**

* * *

><p><em>Oh look, it's a black butterfly<em>

_Dancing wondrously _

_In the pretty Night sky_

_All alone in this world,_

_She's just so dizzy_

_From flying so long_

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 5: Crisis Mode<span>

_Diary Entry 005: _

_It didn't go very well when we went to see the girl. I stood as still as possible, so I wouldn't make any noise, but she still woke up. When she saw me, she started calling my name, but I wasn't sure if I should answer. Did Dr. Lee-Young tell her about me? Why was she so sad? What happened to her legs? Were her legs why she was sad? They were missing from just a little above her knees._

_I felt bad that I couldn't answer her correctly. She kept asking about the crash and some fight, but I had no idea what she was talking about. How did she even know my name? Did the doctor tell her? _

_Of course he did—how else could she know?_

_I keep thinking she might be broken. Her eyes kept leaking water. Dr. Lee-Young said that was called 'crying'. The doctor told me she was crying because she was confused about me, but I don't know why she was even confused in the first place. He told me I should leave right after that, and so I waited outside for a while. _

_I leaned against the wall to think, but I just kept hearing the screams again. Now that I think about it, it sounds like her voice. She tries to stop screaming long enough to mumble something. I can hear the words she says; a jumble of foreign phrases that cuts off into more screams. And then a loud, snapping sound echoes through the air. _

_She just kept screaming. _

_I wish I knew why I was here. Why the doctor told me he was sorry so many times. Why the girl was also apologizing. I just wish I knew._

* * *

><p><em>...<em>

Minoru sat in his study, tapping at his keyboard with a strange, focused energy directed toward the panoramic screen in front of him. His dark blue eyes seemed to almost twinkle, and his usually stoic face held a subtle wry smile. Beside him, though, was not Yuzuki acting as his computer, but another one of his many Persocoms. Her short hair was a lustrous grey that nearly looked silver, and her light brown eyes held a perpetually bored expression as she stood next to Minoru's chair without moving. Much like the other computers, she had a maid outfit, though this one was considerably more modest, almost like Yuzuki's only slightly shorter and in a different color. To complete her look, however, she wore a pair of large round spectacles.

Flashes of light danced across the screen in epileptic patterns.

After a few more minutes of button-mashing and intense concentration, Minoru sat back in his chair, truly content.

He had forgotten how fun a gaming marathon could be.

Despite his usually cold and calculating demeanor, Minoru was actually a very warm and fun-loving kid. He did have to mature abnormally fast due to certain circumstances, but there were moments he had time to himself where he could be quote on quote "normal" in spite of his staggering IQ.

All in all, today was looking to be a good day.

"Master Minoru," said the Persocom beside him.

"Yes Yuki?" he said, still thinking of his high score of 9,043.

"There are visitors to see you," she intoned. Unlike the other models, she never developed any emotional inflection with her speech. No matter how hard he tried to fix it, she remained so cold compared to the others. He simply concluded that, perhaps, this was to be her personality after all.

"Is it Mr. Motosuwa and Chii?"

"I regret to inform you that it is not," said Yuki. On screen she showed a video feed of outside the Kokubunji estate. "One boy and a girl; teenagers from the looks of it, but not Mr. Motosuwa and Ms. Chii."

Minoru nearly began to laugh, but retained some decorum at least. He coughed into his hand to disguise his newest smile. They had taken their time in coming to visit, hadn't they?

"Please inform Yuzuki and the others to let them in."

* * *

><p>...<p>

"So this is Minoru's place," said Garrett, taking in the grounds while they strolled past the now-open gates. "It's nice, very spacious."

"Yeah," said Amber. She wasn't really all there, though. From the time they had arrived, she had been reminiscing about the last time she was here. Jealousy floated in and out of the memories, along with awe.

* * *

><p>"<em>And so," said Minoru, typing away at his workstation, "I effectively reorganized these data-clusters in order for the unit to spend less energy with reintegration."<em>

_The computer next to him had been flawlessly translating his words into English the entire time, and he never even glanced up from his work once. Mind you, he was only four years old at the time…_

* * *

><p>"Amber?"<p>

The present snapped back with an alarming severity. Amber realized, by the pain growing in the back of her neck that she'd been looking down at her feet the entire time, contemplating so deeply she hadn't noticed that they were already inside the foyer, surrounded by four other Persocoms. In the middle of the harem of maid-androids was Minoru, alongside him Yuzuki stood, steadfast as ever.

"Minoru-san," she said. "You didn't have to go through so much trouble."

"It's been a long time," said Minoru, the hints of a grin still on his face. "I didn't expect you to be in Japan so soon."

"Nice to see you too," said Amber. Once she and Garrett had entered, her melancholy had begun to lift if only a little. He began to usher them into his office.

When the four of them entered the study, Yuzuki went to prepare some tea and snacks. She placed a simple white tray on the coffee table in front of them and poured some Earl Grey into three empty teacups.

"I don't believe I've met your friend," said Minoru, gesturing to the brunette beside her. Not at all surprised at the straightforwardness he always displayed, Amber giggled and took up one of the steaming cups. If she didn't know any better, he sounded a tad jealous at the thought of Garrett accompanying her.

"The name's Garrett." He extended a hand for Minoru to shake.

"She's spoken of you," said Minoru politely, taking his hand. "Very often, actually."

"Funny, because she never mentioned you." Garrett gave him a 'take that' smirk just to set the younger boy off.

Between them there was a small spark of tension between their equally powerful stares. Amber set down her cup rather loudly and cleared her throat to break them up. She hadn't counted on any rivalry between the boys, and she half-wanted to shake her head and scold them for acting so weird.

"Now, I'm sure we can all get along…." said Yuzuki rather abruptly, which gave Minoru quite a shock, although he didn't show it on his face. But all the same he was surprised at her participation; usually she would get too involved with conversations as a whole, but more often than not she had become a very outspoken moderator in certain situations.

'_Thanks Yuzuki,'_ thought Amber quickly, and the 'com picked up on her appreciative expression.

"So, Minoru-san, what've you been up to lately?" Amber sipped her tea once more, noting the bitter as wormwood taste that mixed with the aromatic, almost woody, nature of Earl Grey.

"Nothing really. The usual." Minoru took a deep drink from his cup of scalding liquid.

Amber pouted, disappointed for the Nth time since they had become acquainted with each other. _'A typical response from him; he never lets me in on his projects'_

"Oh. Well_ that's_ interesting," remarked Garrett. "What's the usual?" His arms were folded and he sat back on the couch, practically glaring at Minoru. However, his eyes kept on drifting to Yuzuki too often, and Amber had to jab him in the chest with her elbow.

Minoru, though, was too smart to play his childish game of psychological warfare. He kept a cool head and answered his questions without any snark. "Modifying my Persocoms, of course." He looked into his tea cup and sipped. Black tea was always good with a serious conversation, and it was one of his favourite brands too. Yuzuki obviously had gone shopping without him recently. "What I really want to know, though, is why you're here in Japan."

The red plaid skirt Amber kept wringing within her hands nervously: $20

The plush cream carpet below their feet: $345

The pair of black Nine West loafers she wore: $75

The nervous look on Amber's face when Minoru asked that: Priceless.

'_Jackpot.' _

"O-oh, well, you know," she babbled anxiously, "I applied here at Tokyo U and uh.."

Looking at the eleven year old's poker face was too much to bear. Her lie unraveled like an old moth-eaten sweater. Sighing, she entwined her fingers with one another and held them to her face, leaning forward.

"It's complicated," she said, her expression turning sour.

"Please explain," said Minoru, feeling quite smug. He knew she had good reason to Japan, considering the fact that for all these years he hadn't had much contact with her of her family. Something must have happened, and he assumed it wasn't anything good.

"You've heard of Chobits, I presume?" asked Amber, raising an eyebrow.

The child suddenly looked very uncomfortable.

"Perhaps." Minoru made sure his tone was as emotionally sterile as he could make it. Possible motives were flying through his mind at once, and for a moment he wondered if he should warn Motosuwa and Chii before—

"I've seen Elda, Minoru-san."

At hearing Chii's real name, the boy felt ice-water wash down his spine. If their reasons for being here were anything but good, then he would do anything in his power to stop them. He was about to open his mouth to caution them against making him an enemy, to leave the couple alone, but something made him pause. Maybe it was the dour expression on Amber's face. Maybe it was the sound of Garrett's laughter. Either way it confused him.

"Don't give us that serious look!" said Garrett , chiding him. "We're not going to hurt them."  
><em>'I bet that's what you thought, huh, pretty boy?'<em> His laughter made even Yuzuki eye him strangely. "In reality, we're here to protect them."

"I hid it from you for so long, Minoru-san," said Amber. The boy could see the pain on her face even though she tried to hide it. "I _saw _her, Min-kun. My Elda."

"_Your_ Elda?" said Minoru. The possibilities were narrowing because of that statement. "You mean—?"

"Yes, I knew about the program. Several years back, my father introduced me to them."

So that was the secret. All these years they had been so friendly to one another, and she had kept the existence of the two Chobits a secret.

"So I take it Ms. Hibiya told you she had let me in on the situation," said Minoru carefully, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

"Yes," said Garrett. "This is why we're here to warn you."

Minoru felt anger rising to his cheeks. "Warn us of _what_?"

"A war, a war, a war is approaching." said Amber. Her lips were trembling slightly as she said the chilling statement. It was barely a whisper, but somehow the word echoed across the room. She rubbed her temples and closed her eyes to shut in the tears. Blood was pounding in her ears so infuriatingly loud.

_Bubububmpbump bubububumpbump_

"I knew it was coming soon," she said after a moment, when the pain had subsided a little. "And I knew they'd go after Chii first."

"A war to end all wars," said Garrett. His eyes seemed to be far away, in another time. "It might destroy the world if we don't stop it."

It was the way he spoke the phrase that sent shudders quivering down Amber's spine, and she wanted to go back and fix things. If _that_ day hadn't happened, they probably wouldn't have been Identified, and the whole prophecy would've been just a far memory.

But they just had to meet that woman. It was fate.

"So you can stop it," said Minoru. He had no idea what was happening, but he wasn't about to let these two leave unless he was filled in on everything. Why they even were warning him wasn't clear to begin with, but clearly they were distraught over the situation.

"Maybe," said Garrett. "But we'll need your help later on. That's why we trust you to keep our secret until the last second possible."

"But—"

"Please, Min-kun?"

Minoru flinched. There she was, using his nickname. As much as he didn't want to, he composed his face and agreed. He would keep quiet…for now.

"But you have to tell Mr. Motosuwa and Ms. Chii sooner or later about this," said Yuzuki. Her eyes were widened in concern for the two, as well and Amber and her friend.

"Of course," said Amber. From the beginning she had wanted to tell them, but until it was absolutely necessary they had to be ignorant of their danger. "I want them to know, but not right now."

Minoru went back to drinking tea, hoping the warmth would soothe his nerves.

After some moments of silence Garrett decided to lighten the mood.

"So Kokubunji," he said. The boy rubbed his hands together and focused on the young genius before him. For a second he wondered if he shouldn't dump so much information on the kid, but he was having too much fun watching him squirm. "I also wanted you to know that I'm a Chobit."

The look of shock on Minoru's face was even more enjoyable than watching him sputter on the liquid. Minoru coughed for a few seconds before setting down his cup and eyeing Garrett with a look of venom. He hadn't even suspected it at all, which was odd because he could spot a Persocom nearly a kilometer away.

"How is that possible?" asked Minoru. For sure he thought the Garrett she used to always tell him about was human. Thinking back, he remembered the picture she had emailed a few years back. Had it really been six years since the small jpeg had popped up in his inbox? In any case, he had thought that there were only two Chobits in all of existence. After all, that's what Ms. Hibiya had told him.

Most likely, Amber picked up on his thought process, because she saw how his eyes flicked back and forth between Garrett and her.

"My father," said Amber. "In a way he saved him."

"What do you mean _in a way_?" said Garrett. "He **did**—,"

For a moment he froze in place, but then shot to his feet.

Amber stood just as quickly, looking into his eyes. "What is it?"

Her answer came in the form of a few small thuds outside the study door. Several shattering noises resounded as well. Minoru and Yuzuki followed the duo as they sprinted outside into the foyer to check out the upheaval.

What they saw was quite disturbing. All of the maid Persocoms that had been walking about were laying on the floor deactivated. Every single one's eyes were darkened, and beside a few of them in the kitchen lay the remains of a tray of glasses that one of them had been holding when the anomaly hit. Minoru faintly heard Garrett swear quietly as he checked to see if a nearby 'com had been damaged.

"She's alright," said Garrett, rising from the crouching position he had taken to kneel by the fallen Persocom. A quick wireless diagnostic had indicated that the tall brunette had only been sent into Sleep Mode, and her circuits were still intact. "We have to get—,"

A pinging noise in the back of his mind made him pause.

"_Ilma Repulsio!_"

There was a delay after the large booming sound shook the estate. All of the windows before them splintered into millions of sparkling shards, spilling to the floor with the sound of light rain. Minoru and Amber shielded their eyes from the debris, and Garret stood to protect the humans from any other flying objects.

"Show yourself!" he shouted. "I knew there were two **idiots** following us the other day!"

"Fufufu," laughed the voice from outside. It was loud enough to be heard throughout the home, as if it were magnified by a PA system. "Maybe we weren't trying to hide!"

"Up there!" said Minoru, pointing upwards to his now destroyed window. All of the glass had been removed from the one above the door, and what they say was a peculiar sight. Two girls, one dressed in red, and the other dressed in blue. Each had grey eyes and floor-length black hair, and sticking out from the silky midnight locks were cat ears. Twin Persocoms dressed in elegant Lolita dresses.

Behind them was a heavy set man, balancing in the open window just as easily as the two girls.

"I've found you," he bellowed, "I've found you, _perhonen tyttö näössä._"

The trio jumped from the height to land without any noise on the ground below, save for the soft crunch of glass beneath their boots.

"You've been out of the Game—," said the girl in red.

"For far too long, _fräulein_," finished the blue girl.

"It's time to play!" said both of the girls at once.

"Yes, I agree girls," said the mysterious man behind them, "It's been far too long." He spread it branch-like arms wide and raised them toward Amber and Garrett. "Your heart will be mine!"

"Never Kupari!" roared Amber, stepping to stand beside Garrett. She motioned for Yuzuki and Minoru to hide, but he shook his head. He had to watch this.

"In that case, we'll break you—,"

"And your boyfriends!"

"Enough of the chitting and chatting," said Kupari, waving away her anger with a whisk of his hand. "Go Miimii, Go Fiifii! Capture the _Kurochō ōjo_!"

At his command the girls lunged for the four of them, but Garret rushed at the twins the same moment, kicking one of them and swatting at the other in her face. Of course, they dodged the attacks, but Garrett was just as fast.

"Stand back," warned Amber. She glanced back at Yuzuki and Minoru, who obeyed immediately.

'_One breath, Two. Just let the energy flow.' _

It had been nearly three years since she last battled these three, and she had thought after the accident her S-signature had faded from the registry. Just another reminder that she should believe Garrett's claim. Their contract really had never ended.

Maybe he was _himself_ after all.

This battle would not be the one to convince her of that though, not yet. She needed more time to think. More time to decide to solidify it in her heart.

A mini-tornado was already forming at her feet as she turned to face Kupari, her eyes burning with derision and tears. How dare he be the one to face her first!

* * *

><p><em>A war, a battle cry,<em>

_Things forgotten in the wind._

_A prophecy for greatness and destruction, _

_One that promised eternal life_

_And all they had to do was find the black butterfly_

_Flying amongst the others of her kind_

_Trying to stay unseen_

_Her wings had been broken once, but it did not stop her_

_It will never stop her_


	7. Chapter 6: Unwoven

**if I seem too enthusiastic, but I love Chobits and I wanted a fresh twist on it (adding in a few other CLAMP stories of course). Sorry in advance for all the gratuitous foreign phrases, but hey, now you'll have some fun trying to figure out what it all means, right? If you haven't noticed it's extremely AU. **

**First poem is a translation from a song that I'll (hopefully) upload soon to YouTube, and the second is original.**

* * *

><p><em>Everything is connected by<em>

_A single, blue wire_

_It hovers above us like a giant spiderweb_

_Please don't get caught in_

_In your face, there is no complaints,_

_We are both trapped here in this…_

_Wired Life_

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 6: Unwoven<span>

_"The dream will soon end."_

_Those words will forever haunt me. Why should it end? Maybe life is a dream that we keep on dreaming, and only when we die, we'll wake up? No, I don't want to believe that! I refuse to believe this lie you've spun in your silken web. I can't possibly be you, can I? _

_Can I really be you? Can you really be me? Who are __we__?_

_Maybe the answer sounds like "new" and "key", or maybe not. A key to my heart. A new key to my heart. _

_Why did you wait for so long for me, the one you dragged you into slavery?_

_Did lips painted with poison come into my room? Or was that me who drugged you into delirium? Somehow I think it was a joint effort. There are many ways to become immortal, and that man died because the strain on his sanity was far too much, knowing the secret that he uncovered. _

_I know now why I am to be your successor. Why "The Game" must be played. You are the referee from the other side, guiding me in this life. _

_I was meant to find…_

* * *

><p><em>...<em>

Chii had the day off today, which, she had to admit, had been great so far. That meant she could go to the bookstore with Hideki after work. It was Saturday, but he didn't have to work that night if they had enough people to handle the weekend overflow of patrons. Though, right now she was keeping busy by folding up the clothes she had just finished washing. Ms. Hibiya had taught her how to do so about a month ago, and Chii was excited to learn all the specificities.

Oh, it was easy, just sort the clothes, add the soap, and turn on the machine. 1 2 3, easy as that. The drying part was even better, because the clothes came out nice and warm.

Chii held the stacks of clothes in her arms, ready to put them in the closet. Still, she stopped outside the window when something odd caught her eye. A girl with bright coral pink hair was sitting on a roof in the distance. She was dressed in a red and black striped trench coat and looking upwards at the sky. Her hair cascaded backwards, shining in the sun, and reached nearly to her feet, with two oujo ringlets near her cheeks.

A pair of white ears that resembled those of a rabbit's stuck out of the top of her head.

"Hi!" yelled Chii outside the window. "Is it fun up there on the roof?"

The girl noticed Chii and her caramel eyes seemed to light up. With a giant leap from the rooftop, she disappeared from Chii's line of sight.

The Chobit searched for her outside the window, but the girl was already gone.

* * *

><p><em>...<em>

Miimii and Fiifii continued to attack Garrett, spinning and swinging with their limber arms and legs. It was futile, though, considering how fast his reaction speed was in comparison. No matter how many models Kupari had upgraded their memories into; the twins never could quite get ahead of the determined Chobit. It was always cat-and-mouse with them anyways.

"Stand still so we can—," began Miimii, giving a bloodthirsty grin.

"Chop you to bits, _ja_!" finished her sister, who had the same murderous smile.

Behind them, Kupari was preparing for his next attack; in his hands was an open leather book with yellowing and frayed pages. Even after he started hunting down Amber and her Partner, the man hadn't bothered to memorize any of the attacks he planned to use against them. On the pages before him, he couldn't help but snicker at the glowing declaration in the S-Registry:

PACTOR MAGUS- Amber-Nicole Lee-Young

ASSERTOR FAMULUS- Garrett Smith

SOCIUS PACTIO – Active

He flipped through the pages and found exactly what he was looking for. He hoped the twins would keep her bodyguard busy long enough for him to complete the capture. One hand he stretched forward over the pages and chanted in a low voice:

"_Unam sagittam tenebrae caperet virgo," _he said as a black ribbon burst forth from the air above his hand. It shot across the room, which distracted Garrett for a millisecond, allowing Fiifii to push him away long enough for her to bolt toward Amber. _"Et ligare eius ad mea voluntas_!" The dark ribbon morphed into an arrow, which came very close to grabbing the girl.

'_Tuokaa minulle sydämesi,' _thought Kupari, nearly giggling from his giddy mood. He had been so terrible in those fights against her before, but that was years ago and he had practiced so often since then. To think he had lost before to mere children! Unthinkable now, really.

Or so he thought.

Through the tears, she could still make out the dark shape of his attack streaking toward her. It had taken a moment to break through her internal restraints, but eventually the power came flowing out, almost too much for her to control.

"_Flore flante ventus incidere!" _shouted Amber, waving her hand in front of her face before the darkness could reach her. A strong wind slashed at the ribbon and tore it to pieces, fanning out for a few meters. It even stretched to Fiifii, who had been trying to attack her directly. When the Persocom realized it was headed for her as well, she leaned to the right sharply. Part of her dress was caught in the spell, and was quickly morphed into a shower of black rose petals.

Fiifii wasn't deterred that easily, however. She still found a way to bound up the steps and try to strike Amber off-guard. Her hands fastened around the girl's neck, which, coupled with Amber struggling against her, caused both to eventually tumble down the stairway.

"Amber!" Garrett looked behind him to see the two girls fall amidst the broken glass.

Minoru and Yuzuki sat horrified at the sight before them. Both were wondering whether or not to try and find help, but how useful law enforcement would be in this situation was debatable.

"You will not escape," said Fiifii, tightening her grip. She had to keep the girl alive, of course, but she was having so much fun squeezing the life out of her pretty little throat.

Amber felt around desperately for something, since her legs weren't responding to kick off her assailant. There were only splinters of glass surrounding them, and she was very close to passing out. Somehow, though, when she reached out to find a weapon, luck was finally on her side. One dagger-sided shard had fallen to the ground without breaking completely, and she spotted it through the dark haze beginning to blur her vision. Without hesitating she grabbed it and thrust it into FiiFii's back.

It jarred the 'com for a moment, long enough for Amber to roll away. Glass dug into her palms as she tried to crawl away. Garrett took this opportunity to dropkick Miimii, which sent her flying into Kupari. He sprinted over to Amber and helped her to stand.

"You ok?"

"Peachy," she rasped, touching her neck gently. There were dark hand marks encircling it.

"Curse you!" said Kupari, spittle flying from his mouth. Pushing Miimii away, he pointed at Amber and Garrett, twirling a finger. "_Ventus aqua alba caligo gradum, in ossa, eos somnum_!"

In time with the twirling, the air began to dance, circling round and round. A thick white fog gathered in the middle of the whirlwind. It spread out in a blanket over the floor, rising steadily and diffusing with the air. Amber held her breath, fighting the wave of exhaustion saturating her bones.

Minoru wasn't so lucky; he fell unconscious once the air reached him, and Yuzuki had to catch him so he wouldn't fall head first into the wall beside them.

"Finish them already!" said Garrett impatiently. These three had bothered them enough.

_Socius pactio, dimittere!_

For a moment, the two of them glowed, but it faded quickly. The glare distracted their opponents long enough for Amber to unleash her final attack. "_Aeternum et semper sol luceat in Elysium_." she said to herself, quoting the words from her half-remembered dream.

Kupari and his drones all collectively shivered.

"_Purgatio lux_," she whispered. "Your cries for mercy will go unheard!"

Light cascaded from the space in front of Amber's palm, wrapping them in thick tendrils that shone with an untarnished white glow. Garrett took the still solid bands in one hand, and yanked on them downwards, crushing the three of the villains until…

_Pop!_

They seemed to explode into a colorful assortment of confetti.

But it wasn't quite that. At that moment, Minoru woke up, as well as the other Persocoms that had earlier been unresponsive. Yuzuki and her master climbed to their feet and watched the colors rain upon the ground and quickly disappear into nothingness.

"I don't understand," said Minoru. His eyes were resting on where Kupari and his Persocoms had once been.

"We banished them," said Garrett, "they're far away from us at the moment." The Chobit looked to the book Kupari had been holding. It was open on the ground at his feet and burned almost beyond recognition.

* * *

><p><em>The girl was walking<em>

_In the garden, when _

_She found a black rabbit_

_With a sapphire circle _

_On its head._

_A small jingling sound_

_Sent her tumbling to the floor_

_And she found she couldn't _

_Do much magic any more_

* * *

><p>Minoru sat down staring into the charred book within his lap, reading over whatever pages had managed to remain intact. Beside him Yuzuki also was examining the artifact, and inscribed whatever useful data she could into her memory banks.<p>

"Let me get this straight," said Minoru, fighting back a dark chuckle. "You guys want me to believe that there's this war going on called…"

"I believe it is 'The Game' Minoru," said Yuzuki. "I've been researching it since they mentioned its existence." She drew the connector cables from her head and plugged it into the panoramic screen opposite his desk.

"This is the only relevant entry pertaining to this topic that match what we have seen."

On screen they saw explosions of light, and Garrett saw Amber flinch in the corner of his eye. She was leaned away from him on the couch, and staring at the action on the screen. Four people were on screen, all of them human by the looks of it. They were fighting obviously, and spells were cascading back and forth faster than a normal person could track with their eyes.

Minoru examined the exchange with an increasing curiosity. So this has been going on? Why would this site contain information on The Game if it was so secret?

And exactly how many players were there?

"For now," said Garrett, pointing to the tome, "I believe that book is all the explanation you will need."

"But how?" Minoru shook his head. "It's nearly impossible to read." Even if he could read what was in the pages, what was he to do with the information?

"Amber," said Garrett, "Do you think you can still circumvent the seal long enough to fix it?"

"Maybe," she responded, gripping her right wrist with her other hand and rubbing it with her thumb. "May I?" After a moment she held out her hands to Minoru and he gave her the book. "I didn't mean to damage it so badly." Her eyes scanned the cover, assessing the damage.

'_Breathe, breathe, try and…'_

Before their eyes the book began to grow lighter, the soot covering it receding slowly. Her hair was blown slightly by an invisible wind as the transformation took place, moving as if she were standing underwater.

'_Just a little more…'_

The book suddenly reverted to its original condition, and Amber slumped to the floor, dropping it as she did, landing on her hands and knees. Garrett calmly helped her up and let her lean on him for support.

"Overdoing it again, are we?" he said, smiling sadly.

"Shut up," she whispered, failing to push him away. Her arms felt numb.

"I think it's best we leave, Kokubunji," he said. Gesturing to the book, Garrett ran his fingers through his hair. "Consider it a gift." He grimaced. "Sorry about your windows, though."

* * *

><p>…<p>

When the two were outside of the manor's gates, Amber nearly collapsed. Even though she was being held up by Garrett, her legs buckled, nearly bringing them both down.

"Maybe I should carry you," said Garrett.

"Maybe you shouldn't," she countered weakly. At this point she had her Persocom ears back on, so at least their excuse could be that she was deactivated. It would be embarrassing, even if people thought she was just a computer. He scooped her up into his arms anyway, carrying her bridal style. She didn't have the energy to argue about it or fight him, really.

They arrived at the apartment a little after lunch, which, incidentally, was a little after Hideki's Saturday shift ended. No surprise that they met the young man when they got there.

"Oh, Smith-san," he said, noticing the two ascending upstairs. "You need help or something?"

"Help?" said Garrett. Whatever did he mean by that?

"Amber's not too heavy for you, is she?" he said rather bluntly. His face was quite sympathetic, remembering the first time he brought Chii home from the trash pile.

'_Riiiight,'_ thought Garrett. He forgot that Persocoms weighed quite a bit when deactivated. And he wasn't even struggling with the unconscious girl at all, so it looked quite suspicious. Well, even if she were an actual Persocom, he wouldn't have any trouble. Considering the fact that all his parts were military-grade quality, he was capable of much more than this.

"Maybe a little," he said, making sure to try and put a little strain into his voice. "But I can handle it."

"You don't need to borrow a charger, do you?"

Was he nice or what? That was Hideki, always looking to help everyone.

"Nah, I'm good."

He hurried up the stairs faster than Hideki thought possible, but the boy didn't think much of it and continued on to his own apartment.

* * *

><p>…<p>

"Chii, I'm home!" said Hideki. He sauntered into the apartment with light, springy steps. Who else was there to meet him, but his Persocom-turned-girlfriend, Chii? She stopped whatever she was doing and went to greet him.

"HIDEKI!" said Chii, tackling him as usual. "How was work?"

Ignoring the possibly bruised ribs, Hideki laughed. "Great, today was an easy day."

"Really, Hideki? Chii thinks that's great!" She kissed him on the lips and gave him a tight hug. He hugged her back and tried not to blush too much as she laid her head against his chest. For some reason, she was over-occupied with listening to his heartbeat. When he would question her about it, she would say that it was a 'nice sound that Chii really likes'.

After a moment he held her at arm's length. "Ready to go the bookstore?"

"Yes!"

After a few minutes they were ready to go, and Chii was smiling from ear to ear, skipping beside Hideki. He wondered if her kawaiiko display of happiness would attract many busybodies, but it seemed the sidewalk wasn't very populated this afternoon.

When they arrived, Chii went straight for the picture books and Hideki headed for the Seinen manga.

It had taken only a few minutes of searching, but Hideki had found a few volumes that sparked his interest. Chii had strangely taken longer than usual to find something she liked, but he went to find her nonetheless.

Among the colorful covers, Chii stood and stared transfixed at one particular book. It had the picture of a small, doll-like figure. Her eyes were closed, with a tear descending from one of them, and her hands were folded as if she were begging for something. Her hair was long, and reached to her waist. The title read "_The Broken Doll_", and Chii tilted her head slightly as if confused. She wondered if Ms. Hibiya had written another series, but this obviously was not under the same pen name as before. It did have the same melancholy aura, though.

Chii already had a small cheery book called "Kirimi Dousen" pressed to her chest, but for some reason she was inexplicably drawn to the darkly illustrated tome.

"You found something that you like, Chii?" Hideki asked, trying not to stare at the sad-looking book on the shelf before him. He suddenly found a bright pink, yellow and green paperback hovering in front of his face.

"Wow," he said, trying to recover from the assaulting colors. "Okay, and it's not that much either."

"Chii also saw another book," she said, pointing to the one she'd been examining before.

"The Broken Doll?" said Hideki, looking it over. He picked it up and found the violet and azure book was nearly an inch thick. Flipping through the illustrations, he shrugged. On the back was a small blurb:

_Once upon a time, I was whole, and once upon a time, I was a real person…I even had found love. But that was before Fate decided to step in._

Now that was what he called a dark children's book. Maybe he shouldn't buy this one; last time he bought something like this, freaky stuff had happened with Chii, and…

Chii somehow had mastered the puppy dog pout—probably from watching too much TV when he was away. Hideki looked for a means of escape but there were none. Her face was too adorable to fight off on his own. Hideki bought both books without dwelling much more on any possible future implications.

Little did he know that that itty bitty book would someday help save his life.

* * *

><p><em>The World Tree binds us all<em>

_The Heart of Times Eternal_

_**She**__ is the gateway to such a place_

_Her sister became the barrier maiden_

_Long Ago, but her love drove her to embrace the role Fully_

_The Two are opposites, yet so similar_

_And the Butterfly Holds the Key to the Gates_

_Darkness must never dwell there, or else_

_Elysium will fall_

* * *

><p><strong>Wild Mass Guesses are now being accepted!<strong>


	8. Chapter 7: Hitsuzen is Unusual

**Prepare yourselves for a lot more confusion. And I do not own Chii, Min-kun, Hideki-chan, or anyone else. I definitely don't own XXXHolic. You have heard nothing!**

* * *

><p><em>You heard what he said<em>

_This will never stop_

_Just take that knife and_

_Do it_

_Kill me_

_It's the only way_

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 7: Hitsuzen is Unusual<span>

_Hitsuzen. So this means it was always meant to be, wasn't it? But how can I find that new beginning if I keep hanging onto the past? Maybe I need a change of venue; I want a new key to my heart. Perhaps instead of searching for something I know is wrong, I need to embrace my destiny._

* * *

><p>…<p>

"Yuki," said Minoru, adjusting his glasses and examining the text on the monitor. Right now his expression was beyond serious, and slightly worried. "Please translate that patch of text in the upper left quadrant."

"Yes, Lord Minoru," said Yuki. She processed the information for a couple moments.

It was an odd, outdated portmanteau of Latin and Greek, but so far, most of the book had been easy to translate using the software he had installed on Yuki. Once the semantics were processed, it was quite simple to understand the dark contest that Amber had mentioned before. It was strange how he had suddenly ended up dabbling in such tales of misty fantasy. Minoru _thought_ he had passed that wide-eyed idealist phase of childhood, but the fight he'd witnessed earlier had opened his mind in many more ways than even he thought possible.

"Translation complete," she announced, then read the result aloud for the youngster to hear:

"_Just as the prophecy stated: One will become the gate, one will be the guardian, one will be the key, and few will cross the barrier. No stronger bond could there ever be between those that are one, and the ones that are three."_

"The next page as well, bottom left if you will," he added. Interwoven with the words were strange, unclear illustrations. Sometimes there were odd, squiggly runes, or even bold streaks of dark ink to symbolize flames or wind. Nevertheless, one symbol kept repeating wherever he looked. At first Minoru couldn't understand what it was, but as he examined it closer, the pieces seemed to fall into place. He didn't know why, but Minoru recognized it for what it was: A Black Butterfly.

Yuki continued to translate, her voice taking on a more somber tenor.

"_But who may enter the paradise, will be determined by skill. Many will arise to the challenge: those who are not afraid to fight, slaughter and kill. There can only be one, only one may pass. Quitting will not save you, but working together may avert The Calamity. A dark heart will try to enter, one stronger than most who will try. His presence there will be its fall. _

_One with the will of iron, an incorruptible heart, shall be his equal in strength. _

_Neither can be left standing while the other exists, and disaster will reign if evil prevails._

_The heart of the butterfly is the key to Elysium."_

"Minoru," said Yuzuki. She had been there in the room with him and Yuki, and the further they translated the text, the more she became agitated. "I wonder if there was a way to help Garrett-san and Amber-chan." She was very inclined to pace the room, but she had overwritten her original settings for standby quite some time ago. It had been Minoru's sister who would pace erratically when she was irritated, and since he had told Yuzuki to stop acting so much like her, she'd tried to be as unique as she possibly could.

"It does speak of other players being able to compete," said Minoru. His finger trailed downwards across the now pristine page. Half an hour ago, he'd picked up some of the language, and was translating it roughly before letting Yuzuki and Yuki polish off the grammatical errors he seemed to be coming across in his own understanding. "But they aren't allowed participate for themselves."

"How so?"

"It seems it began with 108 players, and one prize. The object is to reach a certain place. There are two things they have to collect in order to reach this ultimate goal. One is a gateway, I believe, if that makes any sense. The second is a key of some sort. The last challenge is to defeat a guardian of some kind, but apparently if you played fair and square, that shouldn't be any problem. However, more contestants may enter, but only in a supportive role of the original 108. "

"What does this have to do with our visitors?"

"They seem to be entangled within the game somehow, but they don't seem to be original contestants."

"What would that mean? From what you say, they are helping someone. But you don't think that is so, do you, Minoru?"

"No, I'm afraid not." He tapped his eraser on the book's page, tracing the symbol in the air above the paper. "From all this data I've been compiling since yesterday, I can only come to one conclusion."

Minoru repeatedly clicked the mouse at his workstation and pulled up a few images up, displaying several pages of text. Yuzuki looked over the pages; interest peaked by the fervor of his working speed.

"See these samples from the book?" he asked, adjusting his glasses. "It expounds on the backstory of the origin of this so-called contest." Every single piece of text had a small blurry image of a butterfly next to it. "This symbol in particular pops up quite often. Near the beginning of the book there was a mention of a certain woman who travelled dimensions, who was given the title 'The Black Butterfly'."

* * *

><p>...<p>

Overhead the moon hung low and full, watching the darkened city with its patient, watchful eyes. Dita stood on the office-building's rooftop, staring off into the distance at the stars. Her eyes were blank for a few seconds, but after a minute, she snapped out of it and went to sit near Zima. He was focused on the Tokyo Tower in the distance, its lights illuminating the night like a giant nightlight. Zima looked at his companion and grinned.

"So what'd the bosses say?" he said.

"We have more cases on our docket, if that's what you mean," said Dita. She rested her chin on one knee and frowned. Sometimes she wished they could have a vacation, but that was something only humans received. Dita briefly wondered why she was thinking of these things in the first place, but quickly brushed it off.

"Man," Zima scratched behind his head. "I'm getting tired of running around spying on people."

"I know what you mean, but we _have_ to." She would have sighed if she had the breath. "We _are_ Persocoms after all; it's in our programming to follow their orders."

Zima nodded. It was true, and there was no denying it. Lately he had been thinking about their purpose. It was only a matter of time before they outlived their usefulness, and when that happened he wasn't sure how to process the possibility of them being "retired".

"So what's the update?" he asked. He wasn't feeling up to reading the latest mission himself, although he had received it as well.

"It's _her_," said Dita simply. Her voice carried a little more than just a hint of venom.

"Her?" said Zima. "I've no idea—," he paused. There were only three people she referred to in that tone. One was girl they had tried to stop earlier and failed. The other was that unidentified male Persocom that they had encountered a few days ago, and the last… Well the last they had met only once before, and the only reason they knew about _her_ was because she was in Zima's database, like Mihara's "daughters" had been. Smirking to himself, Zima raised his head upwards, to where the stars should have been. The lights from the city nearly washed them out, but he could still see faint glimmers of light through the glare.

If only Mihara had kept his research to himself, they wouldn't have these problems.

"So we have to track her down, do we?" All this running around was monotonous, even for a Persocom. Maybe an assignment on the beach would be more enjoyable? All the sea and sand would be nice for a change.

"Of course," answered Dita sharply. She shifted again, to hang her legs off the side of the building and looked away, hiding a slight blush.

Zima shook his head. Typical 'tsun tsun' reaction, he wondered when was she going to go into the 'dere dere' phase. It was a full moon tonight so probably two to three days tops.

"Think she'll release her program?" he asked.

"I don't doubt it."

"Well, now," he lay flat back on the edge of the rooftop, resting his head on Dita's lap. "Things are about to get even more interesting then."

Dita was still for quite a while, trying to process is actions. Her partner wondered for a moment if she had frozen from the clear internal conflict. To his surprise, he found a fist bopping him lightly on the head.

"Baka," she mumbled, before smiling lightly and closing her eyes.

* * *

><p>...<p>

Chii sat up on the futon, her newest book laid out in front of her. Hideki was next to her, lying in much the same way, looking on. The futon had been pushed up against the wall, and there were a few pillows propping them up. There was something about this book that really was nagging him, almost like it was silently begging him to read it. Since he felt like he hadn't been spending much time with Chii as he should, Hideki decided he and his girlfriend would have a good time by snuggling and reading together.

Regrettably, Chii hadn't picked that cute little book she had in her arms earlier.

* * *

><p><em>The Broken Doll<em>

_Vol. 1_

_By Chouko Kuro_

_..._

_I was once a cheerful child, carefree and content. I wanted to be a dancer. All the time I would pass by the open-front studio near to my house with my mother, and we would watch the ballerinas all lined in a row. I was a dreamer, a wanderer, and utterly naiive. _

There were two images on the page. One of a young little girl holding her mother's hand and pointing to a large window full of dancing ballerinas. The other was a close up of her hopeful, happy face.

_It wasn't long until someone violated my trust, someone I had to forget. This dis-remembrance came at a price, one that I paid for years later. The pain is a lingering one, though, every time I do remember now and then. The memories play back just like a movie. Its genre? Horror. _

There was a dark, starry background, and the girl on the page was looking upwards to the sky with tears in her eyes. In the bottom right corner, she was there again, scrunched into a corner, surrounded by blood.

_This was before the __terrible thing that happened, however. __**This**__ was another incident. _

_How can I explain it to you in terms that you can understand?_

_Let me ask you this: Do you know what betrayal tastes like? It tastes just like the ground. Do you know what it sounds like? It sounds like raspy, ragged breathing. Do you know what it __**feels**__ like? It's like someone is roasting your insides and mashing your entire being flat. You can't call for help because it's already too late, and besides that you were threatened to be killed if you told. And this was from someone you trusted like a father. In the end, your screams of pain were your only outlet of frustration and anger._

There was a washed out collage of childhood toys, spanning two pages. They sat in a background of sand, and among them were translucent pools of water, most likely indicating that they were left on the shore of a beach.

_But my life wasn't always so tragic. Yes it's hard to believe, sometimes. _

_My father was an inventor. He made such amazing computers—ones that walked and talked. I was always captivated by them, and would try to help him with his designs. There was a special project that he had been __working__ on. Actually, there were a few of them he had. _

There is a picture of rows and rows of doll-like Persocoms, in frilly dresses and bows.

_The first of his projects finished with no problem, years before I was even born; that is how I came to have my sister. _

_She was a very kind and bold figure. You could go so far as to call her "cool and spicy" if you were so inclined. She always was there for me, no matter what, and the best thing was, she never had to sleep, or get tired or hungry. Always and always, she would be there, and she would never die. _

The drawing of a girl with long pink hair was on the page, holding the hand of the small dark girl from the beginning.

_Unlike mother._

_My mother was a wonderful woman who just happened to be a witch. However to marry father, she had to give up most of her ways. The only bits of magic she could do were simple things, itty bity conveniences like healing scrapes and bruises or stirring pots without her hands. _

A montage of little snippets of instances where a young, raven-haired woman was using magic for mundane uses, took up the space of three pages.

_But one day she just faded away, and father, sister and I were alone. _

One page, showing three simple silhouettes holding hands, came after the montage. Below them was the drawing of the woman from before, her eyes closed in sleep, hands folded in prayer.

_I was an angry little girl then. _

_I would vent my ire into such dangerous things like teaching myself how to throw knives. Sometimes I would sneak around in the garden at night, on full moon, hoping to catch a glance of mother's spirit riding on the wind. _

A somber sketch of the first girl's silhouette against the moon surrounded by a shadowy garden took up two pages.

_Instead, I would wait in the dark, clutching a knife so hard in anticipation that my fingers would bleed. Mother never came to visit me in any form. The next morning, my sister would bandage up my fingers and tell me it was going to be alright. I never believed her until father made his announcement the next day._

The girl is crying on the next page, holding the knife in one clenched fist, and looking downwards. The page after shows her sister bandaging her wounds and hugging her.

"_You girls need to have more fun," he had said. He apologized for not being with us so much, and promised that we would spend more time with each other once he wasn't so busy. Next week we were to going to enroll in lessons, but for what, that we had to decide on._

_My sister chose Voice Training and similar things, which was unsurprising. _

_But I for one took readily to martial arts. It was there I met my friend. We started out as rivals, he and I, but as the years passed, we became inseparable, the best of friends, and then I realized the awful truth: that I was in love with him. _

The next three pages show the girls and their father, the older girl with a microphone and instruments, and then the younger sister in a white _gi_, practicing what she's been learning in class. The pages after show how the girl and her friend met in class, progressing until she has a look of realization on her face, along with a deep blush.

_Yet tine and time again, there was always one factor that no one could ever predict what would happen. That's where fate comes into the picture. Not too long ago, something terrible happened. _

_There was an accident that left us hurt very badly. I and my friend were riding in the car to school, just like every other day. But then someone hit us. The world spun around, threw us, and shattered our bones like toothpicks. Everyone was injured severely, but it was my friend who sustained the most damage trying to save me. Unfortunately he didn't look like he was going to survive. I nearly lost one of my best friends in this world. My father and his team tried to save him, and that was when a miracle happened. An amazing miracle that just happened to save his life. _

The next pages show the details of the car crash, from time the truck hit it, to the car rolling, to an image of her friend protecting her from the incoming impact with his own body. After, there is the faint outline of him sleeping in a cryogenic chamber.

_You may not believe me, but I am sure that he is still alive. He is not like "them" he is still human to me, and even if he wasn't, I would still love him. Even if he wasn't "himself" anymore._

_But what of me? How did I fare from the accident? Unfortunately the damage to my legs was too great, and they had to be removed. Replaced, actually. Only one of the many accomplishments my father had created that helped me to walk again, and even later on, fly. They were heavy and hard to move at first, but after a while I became used to them. They were lithe and agile, like one of those dancing marionettes you would see at the puppet show. I was like one of those toys. I was a little dancing doll. I had been broken, and now I was fixed. Now I am whole._

There is a progression from shock and sadness, to a more confident picture of her attempting to dance.

_At least on the outside, I am. There are times where it is hard to tell if I myself am real or not, but it doesn't matter as long as my friend is by my side._

There is a tearful yet happy picture of her holding her friend's hand as they sit on a park bench.

_Yet even as I'm gliding through the air, I realize from the rattling in my chest that there's still a piece of me that is broken. Long ago, it was shattered, and I'm afraid it cannot be fixed._

The last picture shows the girl floating on the wind, clutching her heart, with two gossamer butterfly wings extending from her back. Her face is melancholy yet peaceful.

_To be continued…_

* * *

><p>…<p>

As Amber lay in bed with the comforter tucked in to her chin, she dreamt. It was strange how clairvoyance would suddenly bestow itself upon her in moments of extreme exhaustion. She was floating in the darkness, waiting for something, but she couldn't know for sure what it was.

It turned out to actually be a who. Well, it was two people.

One was a tall, pale woman. Her hair was inky dark, and stretched down the length of her formal kimono. The front was embroidered with several delicate lacy designs, in multiple shades of red gold and black.

The other person was a young man with glasses. He was also dressed in a kimono, but it was more casual, and came in earthy tones.

Amber had an inkling of who these people were, but as she stood in the darkness, she could only speculate.

"You're here," said the woman, curving her red lips into a smile.

"Who is she?" asked the boy bitterly. "Besides, Yuuko, I thought you were dead."

"I am. I mean, in my time frame I suppose I will be. I assume you've taken over my shop, haven't you?"

He eyed her for a suspicious moment. "Yes, yes I have."

"And so we meet, for the first time. I'll be sure to lure you in someday, won't I?"

"Hmph," was all the boy said, crossing his arms. Evidently he was upset with her for something, but he wasn't about to say what it was about any time soon.

After a moment, the woman seemed to notice Amber again. "Oh, we're being rude, I nearly forgot. As for you…" she walked over to put her hands on the girl's shoulders and look into her eyes. "You are my successor, I believe."

"Successor?" said the boy. "I thought _I_ inherited the shop from you." His tone betrayed jealousy of some sort, but his eyes were curious all the same. One was brown and the other blue, noted Amber.

"Oh that? That was merely one aspect of myself." Her arms rose upwards, as if reaching for something. "Here. You remember my symbol? My title?" There was a slight fluttering motion above them, and without thinking, the boy and the girl looked up to see a swarm of insects.

"The Black Butterfly," said Amber, staring at the woman and her familiars. "_Kurocho._ The one to supersede her title shall be crowned royally, and her heart will become the key to Elysium."

"Elysi—," began the boy.

"Where all souls go," said Yuuko. "The ones not corrupted by evil, that is. It is a haven." She sounded carefree yet remorseful at the same time. "However, those who cannot wait for death may enter by winning a contest."

"But why even do that in the first place?" said the boy.

"Everyone needs a chance," said the woman.

"Yuuko, you said that the dead don't come back! How are you here? Why did you send me that message?"

"Because you _all_ are in my dream," she responded somberly. Her head was now hanging limply about her shoulders as if she had no energy left to speak.

"What does she have to do with you?" said the boy, pointing to Amber.

"She _is_ me."

"She…what?" His confusion made Yuuko snicker and her smile returned once again.

Amber stepped forward. Her voice was shaky but she had to know something before the dream had to finish.

"Why did you send the black Mokona to seal my powers?"

"You _what_?" said the boy, shocked that Yuuko would do such a thing to someone, let alone herself as she claimed the girl to be.

Yuuko shook her head disapprovingly, probably chiding the girl's impatience. "Don't worry. It won't last for long."

"But—," said Amber and the boy.

Her hands went up and silenced their lips by placing a finger on each of theirs. "Hush, children. There is no more time. I must go soon." She turned her back on them and started to walk away. "One more thing, though." She made sure they could see the side of her face as she retreated. "You need to forget me; ask the stone faced boy for your present."

The boy flinched at the mention of a 'present' but said nothing to counter her order.

"Embrace the _new_ me instead."

He looked to Amber and scoffed, folding his arms.

"And you, my dear future me, I only hope that you realize that there's only one way to end this Game. That boy over there is an alternate version of the one you hold dear, so tell him how you feel."

And then she disappeared.

Amber and the boy stared at each other in silence. The more they stared, the more awkward it became. He was about to ask her why Yuuko said all that she had, when Amber did something she never had the courage to do in real life. It was a dream, so she merely took a chance and decided to listen for once to that odd woman who claimed to be her.

"I love you, Garrett!" breathed her lips, right before they pressed against his.

'_Watanuki dasuki_,' whispered her heart.

* * *

><p>…<p>

Kokubunji and Yuzuki stood in the middle of a circle. Yuzuki stood on one end, where the drawing of a sun was. Minoru stood on the other, where the outline of the moon was. In the middle were two five-pointed stars overlapping one another, and below them bother were three squares over lapping one another, and the signs of the zodiac were written around the circle in the empty paces the squares divided the circle into.

If this didn't work, then Minoru's fears would be confirmed, and all that he believed in up to this point would have been false.

"For the sake of the Art, I shall pass on my knowledge. For the sake of the Art, I will practice it freely. For the sake of the Art, I shall enter the contest. For the sake of the Art, I will finish all in my way." Minoru held out his hands for Yuzuki to hold, and as he spoke, he and the Presocom held each other's forearms. There was conviction in his tone as he continued. "I, Minoru Kokubunji, so do swear." His voice never betrayed any uncertainty or hesitation as he spoke the words. They seemed to radiate power, and the circle began to glow brighter with each word.

"In the name of my Contractor, I shall bind myself to his service. In all that he asks, I will follow through. For the hope of his safety, I will give up my soul. May my dedication guide me on the path we shall stride. I, Yuzuki, bind myself to you." She spoke the words with ease, in a flowing, somewhat cheerful manner. Nothing could convince her otherwise that this was the right thing to do.

The next statement, to bind them to their duty, was spoken at the same time.

"For the sake of our friends, to protect them during The Game, may we be bound by our promise."

And then Yuzuki finished it off with her pledge:

"By the commitment of our pact, may my Master's plans follow through."

As the light grew even brighter, to nearly blinding levels, Minoru was silently hoping it would work. After it suddenly dies down, the worry on his face melted away instantly when he saw their cards. One with him on it, and the other, a picture of Yuzuki with a pair of machine guns.

Well, that was interesting.

But mostly he was relieved. What he had read in the book had been bothering him before they started their pact:

"_You cannot make a pact with the Soulless."_

So Persocoms had souls after all, did they?

Minoru looked to Yuzuki as she examined the proof of their pact. It was just as he suspected. Magic had just confirmed it.

* * *

><p><em>Why is it that a rose<em>

_By any other name_

_Would smell as sweet as you?_

_Would a butterfly_

_By any other name_

_Steal my heart just like you?_


	9. Chapter 8: Why So Serious?

**Okay, everyone. I hope the length of this chapter will make up for its delay. Hopefully Minoru isn't too OOC. More revelations and more oddities, including Garrett's true last name! Though, if you've been watching my Deviantart, it's already been spoiled though his blank Pactio card I uploaded. Which reminds me: links to the Pactio cards and the cover are on my profile. If you want those downloadable goodies/bonuses, then I suggest you click my profile link after you read the chapter! Lots of love, and sorry for the long author's note.**

* * *

><p><em>Tell me what you want <em>

_I think I know your heart_

_But if we soon shall part_

_I wonder what's in that heart_

_For if we meet again_

_I want to know if you love me_

_Not just some approximation_

_But are you just a player?_

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 8: Why so Serious?<span>

_The red spilled across the cottony white fabric. Tick by tick, the seconds counted down...the seconds slowed down...the seconds…stopped. Time had stopped. _

_In that moment, everything seemed to make complete sense. _

_Maybe I was fated to die this way. All the time in the world wouldn't save me. Even if I willed it to be so, this was always how it was to end. _

_This was a cornerstone of Fate._

* * *

><p><em><strong>6:40 PM<strong>_

"Meroko, you sure you want to perform tonight, honey?" A gentleman with dark, slicked back hair, and a neat taupe suit stood in the doorway of the dressing room. Earlier this week, his star had disappeared mysteriously in the middle of the day, and he had been walking on thin ice since then. From the moment she and their entourage arrived in Japan, Meroko had been acting really…off.

"You sure you're okay then?" said the man for the 12th time in forty minutes.

Dramatically rolling her bright pink optics, Meroko sighed. "For the last time, Grinswald, I'm A-Okay." Her index finger curved to meet her thumb to form the 'OK' sign. Each individual nail was a different color of the rainbow, with red starting on her thumbs. Nail polish was even more of a pain when you were a Persocom, so instead they were press-ons.

"You ran a self-diagnostic?" said Grinswald.

"Only about 27 times since we took off from Toronto." Meroko made a point of pouting at her persistent-to-a-fault manager.

Even if Meroko was a Persocom, she acted so much like any other performer he had managed before, that in a way it was scary. Who knew what she was opt to do? A least he didn't have to worry about drugs or alcohol, but viruses, worries of crashing, and other computer-related ailments replaced all the regular human ones.

"You know, Mrs. Black, I'm just worried because—,"

Meroko waved away his worries, and the silver bracelets around her wrist jingled. Every time she did this before a performance, he had the same reaction.

"I know, I know, I disappeared for some fresh air, and you informed my husband, and then he threw a fit. Same old, same old. That's why I have you, dear."

Gregory Grinswald felt a vein pop in his forehead. He didn't need so much stress in his life. It didn't help his ulcers a bit. What was worse was how flippant she always was about things like this! What if she had gotten herself broken? Or worse, stolen? He'd heard of the rise in Persocom-theft in Tokyo lately. Oh, her husband would make sure he'd suffer if his precious little wife-bot was harmed.

"Yeah, I keep forgetting," said Greg in a grave, grumbly mumble.

It was then that a short young woman in an all grey sweat suit barged in through the open door. She held the speaker on her headset as she addressed Grinswald and his, er, 'charge'.

"You're on in ten!" she said quickly, and scuttled away just as swiftly.

Well, that was her cue to leave.

"Tell my worrisome hubby that his little bunny is fine, Grizzy," said Meroko. Her hair swayed a little and her ears at the top of her head twitched once.

Greg was slumped over, his expression less than thrilled.

"Copy that," said her manager, massaging his temples. He could feel another migraine coming on. They had plagued him since, well, forever, and the extra stress wasn't helping them either. Right now he needed a vacation. A real one this time; none of those expensive virtual ones.

Meroko, meanwhile, was on her way to the stage. Performance was her passion, and it was Showtime in three minutes. She hoped her sister had gotten the tickets, Meroko hadn't seen the rest of her family very much after the wedding, and the few emails she did get were always assuring her that things were fine.

That was always a Sign.

But she shrugged it off for now. No need to water down the quality of her show because she was overly-worried.

Meroko stepped out onto the stage and stood at her starting position, several backup dancers filing in behind her.

_'If Miku Hatsune can do it_,' she thought, '_so can I_.'

* * *

><p><em><strong>2 Hours Earlier<strong>_

Standing on the nightstand, the little Persocom that Kokubunji had sent earlier awoke from her nap and rubbed her little green eyes. A dreadful loud ringing from deep inside her own head had roused her from Sleep Mode, and she knew it wouldn't stop unless she sprang into action. Immediately she stood upright, and from her tiny pockets, produced petite pink pom poms.

"Message for you!" she cheered, shaking the little pink puffs. "Message for you! Someone is calling."

Amber stared at the ceiling for a few groggy moments. She rolled onto her side, facing the wall. Right now she wanted to ignore the world, and just because someone was calling didn't mean she had to answer.

The Persocom, a feisty doll-sized unit Garrett had named Amu, was not amused by her new master's lack of enthusiasm. Her tiny lips pursed.

"Hey!" The mobile unit stomped her foot and put the pom poms on her hips. "Wake up! Kokubunji is calling!"

Stuffing the pom poms back into her pockets, Amu bounded over to the bed, and scampered up the comforter. She crawled over to Amber and latched herself to the front of the girl's face in a flying leap.

"What the—?"

"Me~ ssage~," chimed Amu, blinking innocently.

"Fine." There was an exaggerated groan. "I'll answer," sighed Amber.

After a couple of moments Amu's face went blank, and Minoru's voice greeted her in its usual, stoic manner. Though, she noted, it held a hint of relief. Just a hint.

"So we meet again," said Amber in response.

"What?" asked the incredulous young voice on the other end.

"Oh, it's nothing, Min-kun," she replied, rubbing her temples. Even though she never drank, well at least in_ this_ life, she felt like she had a hangover.

In actuality, it was quite possible to have a pseudo-hangover from the level of exertion she had displayed the other day. In fact, she glanced at the clock at this point and arched an eyebrow. "It's just a headache. Anyway, what day is it?"

"Oh, well, it's Monday."

Her mouth twitched into an ironic frown. "Monday? Really?" She'd really been out of it this time, hadn't she? Last time, the worst had been five days. Before that, a week. The seal was going to be gone _soon_, huh? Really? _Really?_ When the heck was it going to disappear, never?

"Is something wrong?" said Minoru. He stole a glance at Yuzuki, who smiled good-naturedly.

"I've been asleep for two days," admitted Amber.

"A-Asleep?"

"Yes, now what is the purpose of this call, Minoru-san? I'm still very tired." At the moment her fatigue was winning out over her patience. In the back of her mind, she faintly remembered that today was Monday. Judging by the vacancy of the apartment, Garrett had left her to take notes at school today.

"I wanted to ask some more questions," he said. "I finished translating the book and—,"

"You _what_?" sputtered Amber. "I-I mean you're smart and your Persocoms and and and" The idea that he had already finished the book was odd on quite a few levels.

"It wasn't as difficult as you earlier let on. I even made a pact with Yuzuki."

'_Prodigy indeed_,' thought Amber. She was about to have another meltdown, but instead she bit her lip and took a deep breath. Obviously, he had more important things to discuss, but there could be unsavory characters monitoring the call so…

"Why don't you come over, and then we can talk more comfortably?" suggested Amber with another sigh. With her left arm she wiped away the sweat on her forehead, for it was suddenly very hot in the apartment.

After a moment's pause Minoru agreed, probably realizing her thinking. "We'll be there in a few minutes."

"Be sure to bring chocolate," she mentioned anxiously.

He was about to argue about the reasons for doing so, but as if she were reading his mind, Amber told him that she had no sweets around, and that it was imperative that he comply. Well, it wasn't a terrible request at all, so he made sure to bring some.

* * *

><p>…<p>

Yuzuki and Minoru were not prepared for what they were seeing at the moment. The two had arrived at Gub Jogasaki only a minute ago, and from what they knew, this was not typical behavior for a young woman of seventeen years. When they arrived, she had allowed them entry, but for some odd reason, she had been sprawled on the bed, wearing a dark red yukata sloppily fastened around her petite frame.

Minoru held the grocery bag of chocolate bars for dear life. At the moment, he was being spun around and around, for some inexplicable reason, and Amber seemed more or less inebriated, from what he could tell.

Well, it wasn't a bad guess.

"Excuse me, Miss Lee-Young," said his well-meaning 'com. "But could you please release Minoru?" Yuzuki pointed to the bag of sweets. "We brought the candy as you requested."

Amber paused for a moment from her so-called "waltzing" and stared at the bag Minoru held. The boy was dizzy, and stars were floating above his head, like in one of those American cartoons. His eyes were large, rotating spirals.

"Nyahaha~," said Amber, "I nearly forgot!"

She took the bag from Minoru and set to work at eating one of the bars. Amber ripped open one large rectangle and bit a huge chunk out of the chocolate. Once she had gotten a taste of the sweets, her face made a drastic change from her previous, slightly dazed but still odd, state. The heiress held her head and sighed, falling onto the bed with a large puffing noise.

"That was close," she muttered, taking another bite and holding the chocolate close, as if it would be stolen any second.

"What was that about?" said Minoru, who had recovered quite quickly.

"Just a sec," said Amber, "one more bite."

Minoru waited as she savored another mouthful of chocolate and swallowed.

"Okay," she said, wiping her brow and sitting up, "I think I'm back to normal."

"As you were saying?" said Yuzuki.

"Well, remember how I said I had been asleep?"

"Yes," said Yuzuki and Minoru together.

Minoru had a feeling she was going to start teaching him something, and sure enough he was right.

"When a magic-user loses all of their power," she began to lecture, "usually the body is able to either, one, generate more magic, or two, gather the energy from their surroundings. Unfortunately, in my case, I was unable to do both while I was unconscious."

"I don't follow," said Minoru. "It shouldn't matter if you were unconscious or not."

Yuzuki had the same line of reasoning. "Please explain, Ms. Lee-Young."

"I have a seal placed on me," Amber took another bite of chocolate and continued to talk with her mouth full. "It happened a few years ago, when I was growing into my powers. It makes it difficult to gather, store, and release magic, so…"

"So that's why it was so hard for you to restore the book?" The young boy folded his arms.

She nodded, licking her fingers of excess chocolate.

Well, it _did _appear that she had used quite a lot of energy that day, so Minoru could validate her claim. But why did she need chocolate?

"Oh, well magical energy depends on either will or blood sugar, and I haven't eaten in quite some time, as you know." Amber smirked, fishing another bar out of the grocery bag they had brought with them.

"How did you…?"

"Seem to read your mind?" A cat grin emerged on your face. "I was just looking at your face. You don't control you emotions as well as you _think_ you do, Min-chan."

He rolled his eyes, something that looked very out of place on his usually serious face.

Silence seemed to overtake them, but it didn't last for very long. Amber began unwrapping the bar of chocolate, with the words "CRANKY" in large white block letters.

"There are many unusual things in this world," she began to mumble, half to herself. "Everyday events occur that cannot be explained. Bizarre phenomena that often go unnoticed because people close their eyes to what they don't understand." Her eyes met with Minoru's and seemed to peer deep into the navy depths of his soul. "Kokubinji, the truth of the matter is, there are many unusual things in this world." She wagged the bar of chocolate around in the air in his direction like it was a magic wand. "And people... People are the most mysterious of them all."

Minoru broke her gaze and folded his arms. He was still a skeptic at heart, despite all that he'd seen. Even the pact with Yuzuki he had rationalized as being sufficiently advanced technology. "Where did you hear that from? It sounds like something out of a paranormal fantasy novel."

"Would you believe I made it up myself?" The next smile was sadder than the others he'd seen her crack. Her voice became smaller as her eyes fell to the floor. "A…long long time ago."

"I have more questions," said Minoru, who, frankly wasn't satisfied with waving his hands and explaining everything by saying 'it's magic'. He wanted to experiment; he wanted the cold, hard data. He was a man of science, damn it, not a wizard! "Your friend said the book would be enough, but I can't seem to understand it in its entirety."

"That's because of many reasons, Min-chan," said Amber, shrugging.

"Which are?"

"You still don't _believe_." She jumped off the bed and strolled to the closet. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to pick out an outfit!"

"For what, Ms. Lee-Young?" Yuzuki was interested in what the young lady was planning, considering the crazy things they'd already seen from spending some time with her.

"Just visiting my sister." Amber took out a cerulean jumper and white long-sleeved shirt, but quickly put it back and muttered something about being 'preppy'.

Minoru had forgotten about that. She had mentioned once before that she had a Persocom that she always referred to as her 'sister' but thought she was joking about it at the time. With the way she so offhandedly mentioned her right now, it had to be true.

"What happened to your sister Meroko, by the way?" asked Kokununji. He also wondered why she had a Japanese name, but justified it by comparing Chitose and her husband's choice of names for their daughters. "I remember you mentioned her quite a bit when we were younger."

Amber held up a short red skirt and blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"The typical thing," said the teen. "She fell in love, got married, and now she's touring across Europe."

"What?" said Minoru in a flat voice. He knew Europe allowed that sort of thing with Persocoms, but still, it was quite a shock. America (surprisingly) still hadn't caught on.

His tormentor looked at his face and giggled. If she'd been speaking in English, she would have put on a Jersey accent to add to the story. "Y'see she met this British businessman who is the heir of this old cell phone company," drawled Amber, flipping her hand. "Real old money, right? They recently got into the Persocom business, and they're even richer now, but that's not what I was talking about." She shook her head and the curls did a half-hearted bounce. "Anyways, Dad always had these big parties for his CEO buddies. He introduced Meroko and I as his daughters, the poor shmuck fell in love at first sight, and he swept her off her feet." A pair of off-white boots came flying out of the closet as she continued to rummage around for a matching belt. "Still, when he realized the truth about her, he was even more madly in love."

"Wait, the truth?" said Yuzuki, beating Minoru to it.

"Meroko is a Chobit," said Amber bluntly, giving her eyelashes one innocent flutter and going back to digging around in the closet.

Minoru sunk into a puddle on the floor. Yuzuki peered down at him to see if the boy was alright. He looked up at the ceiling rather abstractedly. "Are you just surrounded by a legendary computer series on a daily basis?"

"Well it's a computer _series_ for a reason. There are more than just one or two. You really thought Elda and Freya were the only ones?" It did make sense if you thought about it, actually. "Hey, Kokubunji, why don't we do something fun today?"

"Fun?"

What did she mean by that? Fun was video games. Fun was building computers. Fun was… what was her definition of fun?

"Yeah, fun!" Honestly, for genius, he was sometimes very slow on the uptake. "You, Yuzuki, Chii, and Motosuwa could go to the concert with Garrett and I."

"Concert? I mean..." he looked around nervously. Minoru wasn't fond of crowds, or people for that matter. His fingers poked together nervously, a slightly frightened expression on his face, for once in his life finally acting his age.

Yuzuki decided to chime in, hoping that he would take her advice this time. "You _have_ been working hard to translate that book. You need a break, Min-kun." She looked to Amber with a knowing smile and had the strange sudden urge to giggle, but kept silent after her suggestion.

In reaction to her proposal, the twelve year old paled. She had used his nickname; the one Amber had given him when they were younger. This was odd. More so than that, it was downright abnormal. What was going on?

And why the _hell _was he blushing so furiously when Yuzuki called him that?

Indeed, his cheeks were like two traffic lights saying 'stop'. "Wha-wha-where are we getting tickets from?" said Minoru, trying to ignore the abnormal behavior and keep calm.

Four pink rectangles of paper materialized in front of his face. Amber had pulled them out of a questionable compartment in her yukata around the vicinity of her chest.

**'Meroko Black, Live in Concert, Two nights only!'**

'**Watch the Pop Diva tear up the stage!'**

"And we've got front row seats," announced Amber proudly, a huge grin on her face.

Minoru groaned, dragging a hand over his face, which actually made a rather cute image despite his apparent anguish. "You wouldn't happen to have any sake hidden in there too, would you?"

Amber tried to hide the hint of sadness that shadowed her face when he mentioned alcohol.

"No. Why do you ask?" she said, a tad puzzled.

"I've considered taking up drinking," admitted the boy, sarcasm undisguised for good reason.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Meanwhile…<strong>_

"A concert?" Hideki paused in thought as he retrieved the shoes from his locker above him.

"Yeah. I figured you and Chii might like it," said Garrett. The entire morning he had tried to put on a little extra charm while around Hideki. Of course, he and Amber hadn't decided the exact time they were going to tell them the truth, but he hoped that by the time he got back home that she'd be awake, and then they could talk it over.

Which reminded him, he really needed to stop by the grocery store for some food. Amber was bound to be starving by the time she woke up. Sweets were a good idea, because her blood sugar would be low, and she enjoyed anything sugary sweet.

"I've never been to one before, I don't know." Hideki had no extra money to be going to something as expensive as a concert. Tickets in Tokyo cost about 15574¥ each at minimum, and times that by two, and he'd be in the red for quite a while. It wasn't worth the splurging.

"It'll be fine. I'm buying anyway," said Garrett, hoping to reel him in with the offer.

_'Maybe_,' he mused, '_after the concert would be a nice time to present the truth.'  
><em>  
>"Well, when you put it that way, sure," said Hideki. They were ahead on their project, and there was more than enough time for a little fun.<p>

"Great," said Garrett, "Meet you at 7?"

"Sure thing."

* * *

><p><em>Ravensdale Ravensdale, must you hide your feelings?<em>

_Yes, my dear, or do you know not of what the day brings?_

_But your name! Your name! Stop hiding yourself!_

_Only you would bring that up..._

* * *

><p><em><strong>6:35<strong>_

Yoshiyuki Kojima, A.K.A. Dragonfly, A.K.A. the Bell Master, A.K.A. the Sleeping Tyrant, A.K.A. Koji-kun.

God, was he bored.

Of course, there were a lot of things to do, especially since he'd gotten Kotoko back. Yes, his lolita little laptop had been sorely missed, despite all the other full-sized models roaming about his home, but he would never admit that to himself. No, no, he loved to be a male Tsundere and deny that Kotoko was, more or less, very fun to debate with because she herself was quite an interesting little person in her own right.

Today, though, she was getting on his nerves for a great deal of reasons. He was losing the argument, for one.

"Koji-kun, you know I'm right," said the mobile unit. Her purple pigtails bounced, causing the tiny bells they were attached to, to jingle.

He knew she was right, but Kojima was being stubborn yet _again_. The young man sighed and looked away from Kotoko and her piercing stare. It probably could cut through steel, with how intense it was, and Koji-kun could feel guilt creeping up on him.

Damn his conscience! Why did it have to listen to her all the time?

"Look, Kotoko, all I did was tell them where to find—,"

"And that's exactly where the problem is!" said Kotoko. "They asked you to find this Persocom and you just tell them?"

He grimaced. Another lecture. When did she get so…so…troublesome? He certainly didn't program her to nag like a housewife.

"Well yeah," he admitted for the 100th time. "I figured why not help them out? They gave me enough money. Now I can buy you that full sized body and get even more memory."

"But what about that Persocom?" added Kotoko, not letting the subject drop despite her interest at finally being able to look Kojima on a more level playing field so to speak. "What if they plan to steal her? Surely her owner will be upset!"

Another sigh escaped his mouth. Ethics and whatnot, that's all she talked about these days. In a way she was more of a conscience than his own. He looked at the screen to his left, the picture of the Persocom his newest employers had supplied him almost four days ago. It seems that they had been trying to track down this certain model for a while, and he just so happened to see her the next day hanging around near the bakery. It was lucky, alright, and he wasn't going to take any chances this time. Last time he had tried kidnapping, it hadn't turned out so well in his favor.

No, he just had to use good old spy skills.

More specifically, tracer dots. Kojima was a fan of gadgets, and for some odd, creepy reason he carried around tracer dots in his pocket. Mostly it was for fun; he'd attach it to a subject of his choice and trace where they went from home at his computer station. Once he had attached it to an unsuspecting cat, and watched the tiny red dot on his screen zip around town just for the heck of it.

Yes, other than his computers, gaming, and snarky internet persona, Koji had virtually no life, pun unintended.

The picture of the 'Persocom' stared at him from the screen—innocent and unknowing. What these guy wanted with her was beyond him, and the guilt was getting to him, but it wasn't so bad that he wasn't going to tell them where she was.

Ignoring Kotoko's voice of reason, he picked up his cell phone and dialed the number.

"She's at the Tokyo Dome."

On the other side of the line there was a deep, throaty chuckle, and the confirmation of his payment. Kotoko gave him one last stern frown before turning away from her master. It gave Kojima the shivers to admit to himself that maybe this wasn't the best idea.

'_Those sweet brown eyes won't have a chance_,' he thought, staring at the picture of Amber stepping out of Tirol with Garrett by her side. _'Not one chance.'_

* * *

><p><em>Fool me once, shame on you<em>

_Fool me twice shame on you_

_Fool me a third time,_

_I might as well be dead, now, shouldn't I?_

* * *

><p><em><strong>R&amp;R! Can you guess what Meroko's 'Special Program' is? More guesses are appreciated. Sorry for being away so long…computer troubles. I'll read and review your guys' stories very soon!(You know who I'm talking about) I'll be updating a few more things soon!<strong>_


	10. Chapter 9: Crossroads

**This is going to be a doozy to read (at least I assume) because it was a real doozy to write. This is due to many reasons. One you already may know, and the other... Well let's just say I finished 12 episodes in 2 days of a series I've been meaning to watch. Which one? Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Yup, scarred for life. And expect shout outs to it as well. Have you been counting the shout outs for other series? Hope so, you'll get a prize if you do. Hope you enjoy the flashbacks!**

* * *

><p><em>If you have a will<em>

_You can have a wish granted_

_And if you have a wish_

_Then I'm sure you have a soul_

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 9: Crossroads<span>

"_By the vow of our pact, may my Contractor's fears be banished..."_

* * *

><p>Dr. Mihara examined the lines of code at his workstation, a frown evident on his features. Between his teeth was a half-chewed pen cap, and he kept tapping the equation scribbled on the sheet of paper before him.<p>

Sure, the prototype bodies he had built were fully capable of duplications very realistic, human-like gait, not to mention other actions. But, he realized early-on that the problem all came down to memory, amongst many things. If the machines he intended to build were to ever become a reality, he had to find some way of not only have them walk and talk, but accept commands, think logically, reason, and on top of that act as a personal computer. And somehow _he_ was supposed to create a CPU sophisticated enough that it would be capable of handling the enormous strain of all that.

Why did he even pitch the idea to his investors in the first place?

Preceding this next impossible task had been the Angels, which were quite easy to make considering their simplistic design. Yet his investors wanted the next big thing. The children loved when the Angels were first released, and quite a lot of them were still very devoted players, but the markets needed something more lasting than that.

_Knock knock._

'_Who's there?_' thought Dr. Mihara.

"Come in."

He heard the slight creak of the old hinges, and glanced up briefly from the inevitable headache that the problem was bringing on.

In stepped a young lady in a lab coat, her dark hair braided into long pigtails, and she wore large round glasses with lenses the size of tea saucers.

"Glad to see you hard at work," said his colleague.

"Glad to see you're so observant, Hakase-san," he grumbled, turning his attention back to the maddening equations and C++.

"You sound overworked, Icchan."

"Whatever would give you that idea?" he said, rolling his eyes.

She had a feeling he was being sarcastic, but merely ignored his bitterness.

"I've been looking over the proposed specs you gave me," she began, folding her arms across her chest. "I may be able to help you with your problem."

All his thought processes froze. "Wait...what?"

"Well, there's something I have to tell you first," she admitted, blushing slightly as she did. "I've built something similar to what you intend to create."

Mihara simply looked at her for 5 seconds, adjusted his glasses for two seconds, and then exploded.

"What do you mean _'I've built one before'_, huh?" he shouted, jumping to his feet and flapping his arms like the madman he was.

Satomi had to be mocking him! Okay, he had to give her some credit, the girl had graduated from a very promising high school, and even went on to study at MIT in America, but this claim was ludicrous! He had heard some speculation about a very realistic robot attending school alongside her creator, but that had to be just hearsay, right?

'Icchan go BOOM!' indeed.

Dr. Hakase grinned, her eyes betraying nothing but sincerity. This was the day she'd been waiting for. Satomi gave silent thanks to a certain Martian and her vampire friend.

"It's a long story," she said, making light of his reaction. "Very complicated and dramatic."

"I don't believe you." Ichiro pouted and crossed his arms like a child, turning away from the woman and trying to ignore her presence.

Satomi sighed; obviously she expected such a reaction. What did Chitose see in him anyway? "Look Mihara-san, I know what you are."

His automatic response: "I've no idea what you're talking about."

"Don't pretend. I know your secret."

His secret? What secret? He couldn't possibly think of a single thing that she would reveal about him that could help with—

'_Wait…oh __**that**__ secret…'_

He swiveled his seat back around to face her. Ichiro _was_ about to deny any past involvement with magic, but Hakase cut him off before he could even begin the string of excuses.

"I also know that you're a total Squib, so you can't go about erasing my memory." She wagged a finger in his direction, as if scolding him for his incompetence. "You see, Icchan, I've been watching you a while. I knew how brilliant you were, so I bided my time. I knew your skill with robotics surpassed even mine, and so I sought to become partners with you, Dr. Hibiya, and Dr. Lee-Young for only one reason."

He gave her a measured look of disdain, and folded his arms again.

"Which is?" said Mihara, waiting for an answer. Obviously the girl was on a roll, and at this rate he couldn't really add to what she was saying.

"The project you just sold to our investors. I had to wait until you came up with the idea before I came to save the day."

In fact it was only yesterday that they'd come from that infamous meeting. How could she know what he was planning to say beforehand?

Mihara sighed. He could at least hear out the ideas she had in mind.

* * *

><p>...<p>

Chii held Hideki's hand lightly, smiling at their little group as they walked down the hallway with their new neighbors. She had on one of her best dresses, one of the many outfits Mama gave her once she and Hideki learned (what he assumed to be the whole truth) about Chobits. It was a dark purple number with black spaghetti straps, and a hem that frayed out towards the edge of her knees in the shape of a fan. The top was layered, resembling several ribbons draping over one another rather loosely like freestanding wires. Her shoes, neon mauve stiletto-heeled pumps, clacked softly against the floor.

Hideki, meanwhile, was still in shock.

"You guys are unbelievable," he repeated.

Tonight he was dressed to the nines as well. His dark blue slacks matched quite nicely with the crisp orange collared shirt he wore. Coupling that with the dark brown Loafers and his new, more casually swept back hairstyle, he was definitely ready for a concert.

"Unbelievable? Really?" said Garrett, still surprised that the young man continued to praise and thank them for bringing him and Chii along.

"Well, things are going to get even more unbelievable, my friend," said Garrett, having more fun than usual. Tonight was the concert, so along with Meroko they'd confess the real reason for their presence, but he should have been more nervous than he was.

If he had, then maybe he'd have prevented something from happening.

The four youngsters stood on the sidewalk outside the apartments, one of them frozen from surprise.

"A limo?" said Hideki, looking at the long dark vehicle parked in the street before them.

"Chii!" said his girlfriend. She was really excited. Not only were they going to their very first concert together, but in a limousine! Chii had never seen one in person, and it looked much cooler than the ones even on TV.

"I must be dreaming," said Hideki, but his thoughts were interrupted by a sharp little pain on his right arm. "Ow!"

"No, it's not," said Chii, who, had for some odd reason pinched him to test if he was dreaming.

"That wasn't very nice," said Amber, a smile peeking through the windows of her soul, but not showing on her mouth.

"Amber-chan seems happier. Why is that?" said Chii, who acknowledged the twinkle in her eyes by tilting her head to the side. It wasn't out of place for her, but not only was Chii very observant, but she easily picked up on the emotions of others, and right now she definitely could tell how much happier the girl currently was, much better than the cold and somber feelings she noticed from before.

"Happy?" said Amber, looking ahead. Was she really happy? She considered it then decided that maybe, yes, she was. For today, at least.

Garrett interrupted by making a show of 'clearing his throat'. He balled his hand into a fist and brought it close to his mouth while making a slight but rough 'ahem' loud enough to catch everyone's attention.

"We have a few more people to pick up, before we get there," he announced once everyone was quiet.

After a couple more minutes they stopped moving, and the driver went to open the door for the new guest.

"Hello, everyone," said a familiar young voice.

Hideki took a double take and rubbed his eyes. "Kokubunji?" he said, shocked.

"Oh, Motosuwa, I wasn't expecting you here," said Minoru, the lie flowing off his tongue easily as he settled into the seat next to him. This way he could answer any questions without much direct eye contact. Lying wasn't a habit of his, so he'd have to at least make his half-truths believable.

"You're friends with Smith-san?" said Hideki, still reeling in his surprise. They could've been buddies for a long time. Both were rich, smart, and could afford Persocoms; the parallels were all there!

"You could say that," said Minoru, ignoring the teasing smile of Garrett in his peripherals.

"Yuzuki," said Chii, hugging the blue-haired 'com when she entered. "Chii is happy to see you." There was something slightly different about Yuzuki and Minoru, but neither Chii nor Hideki could place their finger on it. It was just the general feeling of being around them had changed—their aura of sorts.

Garrett knew what it was, though, and he chuckled silently. He figured that after what Minoru had witnessed, the boy would want in on the action as well.

* * *

><p>…<p>

Yuuko sat on the porch of her shop, sipping a small glass of vodka with two cherries floating in the mix. That dream last night was more than unsettling, it was downright disturbing. Her future was staring her back in more ways than one, and she suddenly realized how much she would miss this life. Her life. She'd lived so long. Yuuko thought back to the last time she celebrated her birthday. It's been a while since then. For one, there'd be a hell of a lot more candles. What was odd was that even before this one she could remember... Something at least. It was always very fleeting, yet never changed.

A pink-haired little girl with pigtails. A pair of red red ribbons. An hour glass.

All so mysterious, yet she knew in the recesses of her soul that they meant something. Parallel universes, time travel, and—

_Mahou Shoujo._

Inwardly, she laughed despite the realization.

Damn, she felt old as hell.

Funny. All this time it had been her greatest fear to become what she was now. Maybe she'd grown up after all?

The puns just kept adding up, didn't they?

Before she became our heroine, before she assumed the name Yuuko Ichihara, she remembered faintly how much despair she had taken on. It was a time when she was still so innocent, and only wanted to live a happy life. She only wanted to save her friend, much like Clow only wanted to save her. But that was slightly different. Not by much but still...

However many times she tried before this point, she could never remember her true True Name. There had hardly been anything that she remembered before Clow had found her, wandering around in the desert.

"Hōmura, huh?" she whispered, only for the winds to swallow up her words.

* * *

><p>Above it all, The Goddess sat and watched. The multiverse was strange in its wisdom. Even she couldn't figure out why it did what it did with souls, and she was a Goddess.<p>

Did everyone have to "earn" their happy ending?

* * *

><p>...<p>

A white blur sped past several dark alleyways, with several girls right behind it. The creature, a fluffy foxlike animal with glowing red eyes, turned the corner and attempted to jump into the nearest window.

A bright purple flash stopped it in mid-air, halfway through its leap. Within moments, the creature was encased in a mostly transparent orb of energy, unable to leave.

"Checkmate, you rodent," said one of the girls, only to be hushed by the one in front holding a staff; she was the one who trapped him, despite their combined efforts.

Beside her was a honey-blonde girl. "Tell us, fake Kyūbey, what do you take us for?"

The creature who claimed to be Kyūbey blinked lazily.

'You Puella Magi—' he began to say.

"For the last time, we are NOT these 'Puella Magi' you keep bringing up," said the one with fire-red hair. She was taking up the rear, and giving the 'fake Kyūbey' a sharp-toothed frown. "But Kyūbey told us about you. In fact, Hōmura Told him about you first." The girl gestured to the one holding him captive.

'You girls, if you're not Puella Magi,' said the {fake}Kyūbey, 'then how are you using magic?'  
>If he really was in another universe, then why hadn't his other Instance already Contracted them? Surely his other self wasn't so incompetent in his thought processes that he'd failed to deceive them?<p>

"We're Mages," said Sayaka, flipping her turquoise hair. "But since we are girls, you could call us Witches."

"And we're only in training," added Kyouko, the redhead. "Consider us 'Magical girls' if you will, but not your slaves, you deceiver."

'I see...so you haven't made contracts already?' said "Kyūbey," his eyes never leaving the girls. They were dressed in the usual schoolgirl fare, plaid skirts and collared shirts, the only strange thing about them were the wands and staffs they held.

"Why the hell would we do that? We don't need Assertor Famuli yet," said Sayaka.

"This isn't the time, Sayaka," said Hōmura as she looked askance, a redness forming on her cheeks. This new world Madoka had wished for certainly was strange.

'Forgive me,' said {fake} Kyūbey, 'if I don't understand what you are talking about.'

Hōmura and the others collectively smirked, if he didn't know, then they certainly had the upper hand.

* * *

><p>...<p>

Minoru held onto Yuzuki's hand while they weaved through the crowd, trying to find their seats. He glanced downwards at the ticket in his free hand. The shimmering sticker of a white rabbit on the front gave him a weird grin as he examined the pink stub closely. 'SA-5' was stamped on his in the upper right corner.

At the entrance he'd wondered why they only had four tickets distributed among the six of them, but Garret was quick to tell them that for all of Meroko's concerts Persocoms only paid 100¥ for entry-a price for which their hosts gladly covered. Though, they did have to be accompanied by their owner, and considering the ticket price, not many opted for that unless they really didn't care about money. The tickets Amber and Garrett had given them were actually very good seats, as he had Yuki look up before they were picked up. Later on, they'd even get to meet Meroko, as Amber had mentioned before.

A minute more of wandering in the crowd, the six of them found the seats—they were past the general admission rows—right next to the stage in the middle of the arena. The seating arrangements were as follows: Garrett on the end, to his right was Amber, after her were Chii, then Hideki, Minoru, and Yuzuki, in that order. Above them, the lights were beginning to dim, and in response, the crowd's noises diminished to a barely audible hum.

For about thirty seconds everything was completely dark.

A pin dropped somewhere in the audience, but no one noticed. All eyes were on the spotlights now illuminating the stage.

Chii looked quite surprised when she saw the pink-haired girl in the middle of the formation. She wanted to mention something about what she had seen few days ago, but Chii couldn't think of anything really other than a startled "It's Rooftop Lady". Hideki looked at her strangely before dismissing the off-beat comment as something she saw in a commercial.

Meroko was in her signature outfit tonight. Mostly black, the whole scanty ensemble was pulled out of some crazy fanservice-laden manga. The top was cut rather immodestly; the bottom of it stopped high enough so that her belly button and most of her midriff had the pleasure of greeting all her fans before she even opened her mouth. Her skirt was slightly higher than mid-thigh, and poking from the back of it was a fluffy white bunny tail. The unmistakable ears to match that tail protruded from the base of the dark red top hat on her head, twitching every few seconds.

The bass drum pounded out a heavy beat, a steady _bump, bump, bump-bump-bump_ that vibrated the entire arena. All the soft-drinks in the audience's cup holders shook to the beat. Onstage, Meroko counted the bars off, waiting for the cue.

One bar, the crowd stares agape.

Two bars, the guitar joins in, a whiny _ba-na-na naaa_, followed by a more subdued _da-na-na naaa_, and then ended by a _za-za-za zaaa_. It repeated two more times, the waves of electrifying notes energizing the audience.

_Da na na na_, whined the guitar, going into lower tones.

This first song was a composition of her own originality. It was called 'Over There'.

_Hey you, standing there  
>I know you got something to say<br>Well, what is it? 'cause you're taking too long  
>I don't have all day<em>

_You say that you want to be close,_  
><em>Something more than friends?<em>  
><em>But I'm afraid that you're too late,<em>  
><em>This is where it ends!<em>

_I'm addicted to the fame and fortune,_  
><em>Living without a care.<em>  
><em>I'm married to my music baby,<em>  
><em>And traveling everywhere.<em>  
><em>You can say I'm already taken, boy.<em>  
><em>So you and your love, stay "over there"<em>

Her voice was a Spinto-Soprano, and drifted over the crowd like a flood of pure electricity that incited a lot of headbanging, stomping, and other usual concert fare. The six VIPs were no exception to the rule, other than Chii, who had no idea what to do but clap her hands and try to do a little wiggling dance.

After the song finished, our group of protagonists were quite impressed. Garrett and Amber were quite proud of her, and the latter decided this was her cue to leave. Besides, all this excitement was making her thirsty. Of course, she would have to lie at the concessions stand and say it was for her master, but right now a Roca-Cola would hit the spot.

"I'll be back with refreshments," she said, squeezing past Garrett. The others nodded, and told them their orders. Minoru wanted some gummy bears, and Hideki asked for some licorice. Yuzuki, Garrett and Chii clearly didn't eat so they said nothing. Hideki suggested Chii go with her, but she declined. Garrett knew that after the first song she was bound to disappear, so he wasn't concerned. He did point to the pocket of her all-white outfit to remind her to keep her cellphone on, though.

Somehow, through much pushing and apologizing, she made her way out of the arena.

Tonight was pivotal. Everything that they'd been hiding up until this point was about to be revealed, one way or another, and unfortunately the stress was affecting our heroine.

Amber leaned against the wall once she got to the food court, trying to sort out her thoughts. It was going to be hard to convince them they were in serious danger, and considering how protective Hideki was, he would probably take it as a threat. She sighed. Maybe things would work out alright for once?

The two massive hands that grabbed her answered that question before she could even react.

* * *

><p>...<p>

Chitose held the halves of the pink little sphere in her hand, trying to put them back together. The pieces were as translucent as crystal, yet as hard as diamond. But what had cut them so perfectly in half, now _that_ was a mystery.

Dr. Hibiya frowned, pondering over the latest test results. Mihara and Hakase were busy at work building the processors and CPUs. If her findings about this gem were correct, then all they would have to do was duplicate the properties found within the object resting on the able before her.

Only two days ago, her colleagues had begun working so feverishly. And it just so happened that two days ago she had found this pink gem while walking around outside in the rain. She couldn't fathom why she had to pick it up, but it was glowing so brightly at the time that it seemed hard not to notice it. Promptly after she carried it to the lab, and the results were spectacular.

Why this little sphere was like a tiny little motherboard, tightly compressed and folded upon itself several times. When Hakase had taken some scans and produced some digital slices of the stone, she went to work at modeling something similar out of silicon. If she could do that, then building the components around it could possibly work at solving the problem she, Hibiya and Mihara had been discussing before.

Hakase had built something similar to the blueprints they were now drawing, and upon comparing the diagrams, her design had one fatal flaw: the power source. She would not disclose the exact nature of it, but insisted that it could not be duplicated by the masses. (Though, Hibiya did noticed the uncomfortable look in Mihara's eyes as she said so, leaving her to believe that it was only she that was in the dark about this 'power source' of Hakase's.)

This gem, however, made up for that, somehow, in the calculations they had come up with regarding power consumption and distribution.

Applied Phlebotinum, check and check.

In about two more days they were going to finish the prototypes by adding the silicon replicas of the stones, and hopefully they could have their contract renewed with the investors just in time for Christmas.

* * *

><p><em>At the gate stood The Angel,<br>Unable to enter, unable to leave  
>Just waiting and guarding the threshold<br>Tethered to the mortal world through her sister,  
>And helpless yet capable all at once<em>

_In the Garden she protects sits a girl_  
><em>Who could destroy the universe<em>  
><em>And twist the physical laws like putty<em>  
><em>But instead she saves those who<em>  
><em>Have undoubtedly fallen into despair<em>

_Both are wholesome yet terrible in their own right._

* * *

><p><em><strong>If you have questions, just ask! (Don't expect spoilers, though...) I'll PM you back as soon as I can...er...eventually. I promise.<strong>_


	11. Chapter 10: Melancholia

**_I apologize for any confusion. Disregard anything that you don't recognize, it will only confuse you. On to the story, and sorry for the delay. If you want to research, that's fine, but otherwise I will be sticking to my original plot. I've also decided that if this became an anime, the song "Connect" would definitely be perfect. Yes, I know which OP that song is for. The second theme would obviously be "Let Me Be With You" followed by "19 sai". The endings would be "Minna Daisuki", "I Wanna Be", and "Magia". **_Count the Shout Outs! But they're not important unless you're a fan of anything else I try to reference on the sly._**_**

* * *

><p><em>A painful memory can be stronger than any mere wish.<em>

* * *

><p><em>"By the dedication of our pact, may my dear Princess be protected."<em>

_"Hi…deki?"_

* * *

><p>A hospital bed.<p>

A simple place, yet it connected them all in many different ways. For Minoru, it was where his sister spent her last moments. For Chii, it was the same situation. It was also, while lying on one of these, where Garrett first woke up. And it was there, recovering from a double-amputation, that Amber realized how lucky, and misfortunate she had been.

Being a protagonist is nothing but suffering.

**_._**

The man sat in his office chair, his hands entwined and resting on the middle of his chest whilst he leaned back. It was nighttime of course, so most of his face was obscured by the ambient darkness. By this time he should have been staring that girl down and demanding the location of her friend. Instead, he was face to face with another useless employee.

Yet another perky secretary, coming to report. She fluttered her eyelashes several times, probably in an effort to flirt with him He'd seen it so many times before. Couldn't they see that he wasn't interested? Of course not, they were bland, idiotic monkey programmed to kiss-up at every opportunity. He could not blame them for that, but it was damn annoying.

It was late, and most of the night shift had packed up for the long trek home, but he still had some work to do. Besides, a few hours earlier he'd been waiting for a very important call for some time, and when it did…well, it wasn't what he had expected.

What stupid men. He mulled over his decision to hire the idiot in the first place. Professionals? Hardly. He should have done the job himself instead of trusting a couple of common thieves. No matter how successful they were, their greed had gotten the better of those two, and now he was fuming over this latest development. Their last update was to brag that she was too pretty of a Persocom to hand over to him, as if they could decline his money and run!

_How foolish was that?_

They were up so something, that was for sure.

"So when do you think those reports will be finished?" said the girl, derailing his train of thought momentarily. He sighed, leaning into the desk lamp's frail light.

A mess of dark hair fell over his face, and he forced a grin. "Later on tonight," he told her.

The secretary pursed her bubblegum pink lips. It seemed her attempt at seduction failed miserably. "Don't work too hard, okay?" she suggested sweetly, hoping to reel him in again at a later date. "Well…" she giggled like a schoolgirl and turned to go. "See you later, Miki-sama."

"Yeah."

She strode away, swaying hips and all, the Pepto-Bismol heels _clack clacking_ in her retreat. The door clicked closed upon her exit, and when he was sure she was out of sight, Mr. Miki looked to the far end of the office. There, a girl with long, ice blue hair and deep amber eyes stood immobile amongst the potted ferns and lilies. Not once did she blink or shift about during the conversation with a certain Ms. Saito, but she stared straight ahead in a hypnotic manner.

"I'm sorry," he said, addressing the girl, "it appears I've failed you again."

Instantly she broke from her trance, her eyes coming into focus. Her hair swinging with every step, she walked to the desk and smiled.

"It's alright Kamijo-kun," she said, her eyes connecting with Miki's and staying there.

He wasn't the guy who ran things at his company, but he was just a step away from it. After all, he had a corner office amongst other benefits, but it was only because he was so diligent in his work. The CEO himself said so. Though, if it was for _her_, he'd give it all up. In a way he was, and that was only one of the reasons he held so much disdain for his ignorant coworkers.

A petite hand brushed the side of his face. Kamiljo blushed to that she had climbed onto the desk.

"Looks like you need to shave again," she commented, the subsequent giggle tickled his ear as she whispered into it. Kamijo's face softened into a smile. Her sense of humor was strange, but original to say the least. She was toying with him, of course, but he didn't mind.

"Angel…"

Yes, he'd bring down heaven if it were to make her happy. Kamijo just had to find another way to lure the butterfly into his web. That is, if those imbeciles didn't do anything too idiotic.

_For my Angel-chan._

.

**_Chii…_**

_Sister?_

**_Chii, please tell me you hear me, Chii?_**

She nodded. _Yes, Chii can hear you. Why is Freya speaking to Chii now?_

**_Because something is not right, Chii. Can You help me?_**

_How, sister?_

.

By this time of the night, Meroko was still onstage, but her backup dancers had been switched out. No normal human could dance for so long without collapsing, so it was clear to see that Meroko was a Persocom. Before the concert Hideki had wondered about that little fact, so he had asked Smith-san and Minoru about it on their way to the arena. Their answers were heavily detailed and far too technical for his liking, but it was interesting nonetheless. Though, he noted that both of them were enjoying the concert just as much as he was.

_'Yūyake umare kuru mono yo'_

Chii, however, her joy had been subdued quite recently, as if she were thinking deeply upon something. This was odd, because what did Chii usually think deeply about? Nothing, really.

_'Kesshite miushinawanaide'_

Something bothered him, though, he didn't know why, but he was afraid. Of what, he did not know, but it was nibbling at the back of his mind like a rodent burrowing though the walls of a house. He hadn't felt this way in a while and the only point on time he could recall feeling like this…was when Chii disappeared.

_'You are you shoujo yo ima koso'_

The empty seat bothered him. Where was Amber-chan? He wanted to say something about it, but he couldn't think of how to word such a comment about her absence.

_'Furihodoki tachiagare!'_

"Something's wrong," said Chii. Her voice was an even tone loud enough to distract the others of their group from the music.

"What's the matter?" said Yuzuki.

"Amber-chan isn't back yet."

So Hideki wasn't the only one to notice. At least now he could talk without his conscience bothering him about being a busybody.

"I'm sure she can handle herself, Chii, but I do think it's odd." Garrett frowned, but he tried to ignore the look he was being given. "Is it normal for her, Smi- I mean, Garrett-kun?"

"Do you think Miss Amber is alright?" said Yuzuki, concerned as always.

Minoru kept silent, watching them sort things out. He wondered as well, but she _was_ capable of defending herself, that he witnessed the other day at his house.

"I'm…" said Garrett, looking down, "not sure, actually. Let me call her." He reached into his pocket to retrieve a familiar little face that he managed to sneak inside. "Amu?" Her sleepy face would have caused him to normally go 'aw', but he was beginning to grow worried.

"Yes, Master?" she said, yawning.

"Could you call Amber for me?" The crowd was unbelievably thick, so he couldn't leave at the moment, but tried to block out the background noise as he made the call.

"Okay!"

Streaks of light flashed across her eyes for only a few moments before there was a response.

"The number you have reached is either out of service or unavailable. Please call back at a later time."

For the first time in a while, Garrett clenched his teeth and swore like a sailor under his breath.

**_._**

The dim lights hanging from the ceiling shone weak rays of light on the three figures in the room. Two were tall, clearly male, and both were leaned over the unconscious character on the floor. Her hands and legs were bound by ropes, and the side of her head was throbbing.

"Wake up!" barked a voice. It was directly above her right ear, and Amber could barely register it as an order. The man it came from was tall, over six feet, and looked like one of those henchmen that were easy to fool into making a blunder.

Too bad this 'henchman' was really the one who had organized the whole thing.

Beside him stood a nervous willowy man who kept wringing his hands and looking around anxiously. He wore a long, white lab coat with a name tag that read 'Kuroku', and had on a pair of spectacles with extra-thick lenses. One of them was cracked down the middle, and looked like it was held together with tape. He kept n clearing his throat softly, like something was stuck in it.

"Do you think she's alright? Her head hit the trunk pretty hard, some components—," said Mr. Kuroku, worrying enough for both of them.

When he first started this business with Norio-kun, it was merely a refurbished Persocom shop. Lately the merchandise they were acquired was getting more and more illegal, and Kuroku was too frightened by his partner to do anything about it. His girlfriend even left him recently, because he was so weak-willed, but he didn't care, Kuroku didn't want any conflict, and the best way to keep things running smoothly was to go along with Norio-kun's plans.

"It's fine," said Norio.

_Huh?_ thought Amber, her thoughts gathered slowly from where they left off. It felt like her brain had gone through a blender, and was trying to reassemble itself from the gook.

"Wake up you piece of junk!" shouted the man again.

"Where?" she muttered. The light was shing directly into her eyes, causing a terrible glare to obscure most of her surroundings. In spite of that, what she did see were two faceless goons waving around a gun. One had a dark ski mask to hide his face, and was obviously trying to disguise his voice by talking very deeply. The other could have been a stick figure for all she knew, and she couldn't see his face through the brightness.

"You've got till the count of ten to tell us your owner's number," he said, pointing the gun at her face.

"My owner's?" It was then Amber realized she was still wearing the ears. Her mind could only think one thing: she was screwed. Keeping her breathing steady, the girl tried to recall the number Amu had been registered with.

"038-54…"

After all, considering who she was, this wasn't the first time this had happened.

...

Understandably, Garrett was anxious. To show that fact, the Chobit paced around the food court with his head watching his feet and hands crossed behind his back. Minoru had tried to remind him that there could have been many a reason why Amber had not called back or answered, but the boy was only met with irritated mumbles and more pacing. A few minutes ago he had tried to track down her cell phone, but it was futile, the phone was obviously still off, and he couldn't very well find it in that state, now could he? Yuzuki was at a loss as well, and if Minoru couldn't convince him that she was okay, then who could? After all, she thought proudly to herself, he was one of the most logical minds of his generation.

_Chii is worried~_, thought Chii. She liked that Amber girl even if she was a weird person. Chii wondered if she could help, but seeing Garrett act so upset really hit home. It reminded her of the time she had stumbled into that shady job, and just thinking about it made her angry.

Hideki could see the frown Chii wore grow deeper, but he was unsure of how to comfort her. Chii was usually so open with her thoughts, but tonight she was uncharacteristically silent, and he couldn't guess what she was thinking to make her look so mad.

A short chiming noise put everything on pause.

"Someone is calling!" announced Amu from within Garrett's pocket. He answered it immediately and was about to scold her for disappearing, but then he heard her voice.

"Garrett...Garrett, are you there?" said Amber.

He could tell something was off.

"Amber, are you—," he began, but he should have guessed what was going to happen next.

"Now, buddy, listen up good. If you ever want your precious little Persocom back in one piece, then I suggest you listen. Carefully."

A man's voice, dark and threatening, was on the line. Garrett clenched his fists and held back the anger that was rising within him.  
>"Y-yes."<p>

He had made a connection with Amu the second he heard the kidnapper's voice, and was trying desperately to locate her. The signal was not from _her_ cell phone, of course, but even then, it was hard to grasp. For one it kept on bouncing around so much he couldn't pinpoint it, and to add to that it was a private number, meaning he couldn't even trace who the owner was. Considering this, he was in some real deep trouble. Or rather, his partner was.

The man on the other end made his demands, Garrett would have to hand over 160000 ¥ or he would keep her for good. The location of the drop-off site: Tokyo Tower at midnight.

_He has some outrageous notions, that man!_ thought Garrett when the receiver went dead.

"Garrett-kun?" said Hideki, taking in the now red-face boy trembling with rage.

"He wants money, as usual," he replied, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes. "By midnight, he expects me to give him over two thousand dollars and drop it off next to a lamp post near the Tokyo Tower."

"That's insane!" said Hideki. He only had a few hundred in his own bank account, so it was an impossible thought for him.

"I might just have to comply."

"You do know," said Minoru, "that he might just take your money and run?"

"I do." The boy looked to the floor and thought. He felt as if he were missing something, but what?

Yuzuki took one of Garrett's hands and held them within her own. "There must be some way to trace her, I'm sure. I could help with that you know."

"Then we could run over and save her," said Chii.

_Run over and save…_ thought Garrett. **_Run_** _over and save._

"That's it," he said softly. "That's it," he repeated, louder this time. How could he call himself smart if he had been so stupid? "I know how to find her. I'll need your help, Yuzuki."

…

Norio Iwaki was a very depraved man, as Mr. Kuroku had come to learn over this past year. Kuroku himself was horrified to learn that over 50% of the inventory they had acquired, had been obtained by not only illegal but unethical means as well. Why, leasing Persocoms 22% above the normal price should have been illegal. Should have.

Still, even if he didn't agree with Norio-kun's practices, he did help him to steal the poor girl. It was interesting how he thought of them as people, yet his partner did not. The man always referred to them as 'it', and treated them as such. And worst of all, he did not care in the slightet how these people felt when their friends (yes, he considered them friends to their owners) were stolen away. It was like—heck it _was_ kidnapping.

Still, he was afraid. Not for himself, but the girl. She was different than the others, that he could see, but why he could not ascertain for sure. When he hooked up the connectors from her ears to a monitor, the screen merely said "NO DATA". It was the first time that had happened. Of course, Norio-kun was angry at him for that, and demanded that by tomorrow "all that kid's info better be gone from that piece of crap, so I can resell it."

But before that, he wanted to do something.

"It'll all be erased by tomorrow, right?" said Norio, taking a swig of liquid from the flask in his large hand.

"Y-yeah," said Kuroku, nodding. "I'll be able to hack its OS by then, I assure you."

That was a lie; he didn't even know where to begin with a Persocom like this! Just by looking at her, he could only guess what company she was from, and was relieved when he found a bar code on the bottom of her right foot, as usual per a Gala Inc. model. They were known for their elegant, realistic designs, and moreover, didn't like to put barcodes in such 'conspicuous' places such as the upper thigh or breast.

But still…

Damn Gala and their closed code! He was well versed in Picosoft Panes, but not this. Hardly anyone had a Gala model in Japan, and even when they did, they were extremely expensive to buy, at least here, considering they had to be shipped all the way from California.

Amber watched their exchange from the comfort of her own little chair. She had allowed him to examine the barcode on her sole, and he typed it in to show his partner in crime.

Company, Gala Computer Inc. Model #00982, "Eve".

Norio squinted at the screen and made some approving caveman grunts. "Looks like her…sort of."

She was the daughter of a billionaire who owned and ran his own computer company. Of course he would model a Persocom after her and charge through the nose for them. In a way she was the ultimate collector's item, considering the fact she could be called the 'original'. That was the only conclusion as to why she had been kidnapped, given the nature of her situation at the moment. No one had cast any spells, from what she could sense, so it was a completely mundane operation. These two, through and through, seemed to believe she was 100% machine.

"She must be a custom built 'Eve', then. The unmodified version cost a lot too." said Kuroku, surveying the specs.

"Unmodified version?" Norio was confused. He wanted this one to sell for a lot of money, so he was hoping it really was custom built.

"The original doesn't have certain…_features_."

Oh, now he got it. "Well, I hope she has those, because I want to try her out!"

From where she sat, Amber suddenly had a very bad feeling of what this man was implying.

_What? _thought Kuroku, slightly nauseated from his partner's suggestion. He couldn't be serious. All those other models, sure, but this one was one-of-a kind! And didn't he promise to give her back if the boy came up with the money?

Then again, it was nigh impossible for anyone to follow through with such a request at this time of night, but it was still a matter of princi—oh yeah, Norio had none of those anyway.

"It's alright, Kuroku-kun, I'll be gentle…" a giant, raspy laugh heaved from his lungs before he took another gulp of the (most likely alcoholic) drink. "You did promise that you could erase da data afterwards, anyway."

"True, I did say that, didn't I?"

."Operation: Save the Shana Clone".

"You are a lifesaver, Yuzuki," said Garrett, as the six of them jogged down the crowed metropolis sidewalk. Persocoms and humans alike were milling around, so it was pretty hard to navigate. Even so, Yuzuki lead the pack to where she traced Amber's location, holding Minoru's hand as she weaved in and out of the person-shaped obstacles.

How blind could Garrett have been to forget about her legs? Her father even reminded him before they left that there was a tracking device within each of them, and he _still_ forgot. Chii really was the lifesaver, because he probably wouldn't have remembered without her comment.

From the back of their procession, Hideki was having the worst case of Déjà vu. It was the whole situation that made him feel like he was running to rescue Chii from those creepy men all over again. He hoped that whoever had Garrett's Persocom wasn't trying to try the same thing, and that they got there in time.

.

_You've got to get free_

_You need to or else,_

_There's knowing what he'll do_.

Don't you think I know that?

.

Garrett advised the others that he would be alright on his own, but they ignored his warning. He sighed, and shrugged. They were going to learn the truth after all, tonight, but not in the way any of them intended. In front of them was an office building with yellow "CAUTION" tape covering the first floor. It was about eight stories high, and on the topmost level, the entire floor was radiating light.

So this was the place? He expected guards or even runes to impede their entry, but instead he peeled back the offensive obstructions from the door and they all stepped inside.

In the meantime, Norio was getting on Amber's last nerve. She couldn't carry out any spells without her hands, so it seemed she was stuck. Even if she was free, the most Amber could do was try to incapacitate him with a blow to the face, but he was probably to thick-skulled, and she'd hurt herself trying.

On top of that, he was stone drunk. The booze on his breath was enough to knock her out again. As he inched closer, the girl held her breath and hoped for salvation, because it looked like there was no escape.

A hand brushed the side of her arm gently, the sensation of the rough skin touching her, made her stomach jump. Her head was spinning, a wave of possibilities washing over the shores of her mind. She didn't have a single useful thought that could get her out of this.

_Someone, please help me…_

In the corner of the room, a tiny white rabbit sat and watched, waiting for the right moment.

_._

**_Scream all you want, no one will come._**

_Elda, please help me!_

**_Who's there?_**

_Go get help!_

_._

She was trembling as he touched her skin, now why was that? Norio was trying to decipher the meaning of this within his impaired mind, but he didn't notice the ropes were beginning to dissolve.

A scream shook the entire floor.

Several stories below, our band of heroes paused in their ascension up the stairwell, but Garrett pressed on despite the terror brewing in his mind. He knew that scream anywhere. She'd had so many nightmares it was hard to forget that specific cry.

"Amber, hold on!"

He could feel the distress grow stronger, the closer he got. Or was there another reason for that? He did remember Amber telling him of the dream she had, but that was impossible.

The others resumed their pace, and reached the eighth floor only mere seconds after Garrett. He had found the door was locked, and had tried to open it, but even with his strength, the doorknob stayed firmly in place.

"Dammit!" he slapped the door, but it didn't budge.

_It must have been reinforced…_

What was he supposed to do, kick the door down?

Another scream and another earthquake.

_Screw the consequences._

Garrett reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a flat rectangular object, which Minoru's eyes popped out at. He wasn't quite understanding what he was about to do, but he had to ask.

"You're not—," said Minoru, only to be cut off by a vicious glare. This wasn't the time to argue, considering the noises coming from the other side of that door.

"Adeat!" yelled Garrett. A flash of light and a second later he was holding a large, grey and silver sword. "Stand back!" The others obeyed the instant he said it, retreating to the safe distance of about three meters away. He lifted it above, then behind him in a swing, thrusting the sword in the direction of the door.

There were several explosions at once.

One damaged the door and the frame around it, the sword obliterating all of the wood that had once been there into ashes.

The second, Garrett realized, removed the far wall of the room where the windows were. Behind him, the others were gaping at the mostly ruined operation. One man was scrunched into a corner, near a few charred consoles. He shook considerably, and his eyes were wide. The other was unconscious, burn marks on his face and arms. Outside the window was a faraway white light that was getting smaller by the second.

"That's…"

* * *

><p>遁走<p>

* * *

><p><strong><em>And so…the main villain is revealed! (Sort of…) Kukuku~ I just came up with same random guy's name. His partner, you'll have to watch out for her later on, because that name is deceiving. Oh, and those two guys were scapegoats, I know…and if I disturbed you in any way I apologize.<em>**


	12. Chapter 11: Magic and Miracles?

_**Don't you hate when…you plan to do something, and… something gets in the way of that? That's what happened to me and updating this. I promised it would be here two days ago, but… you know, life happens. Junji and Minako belong to ThanosofTitan. They are from his stories "Rebellion" and "Coming to Terms", both of which are AMAMZINGGG. Oh, and they're used with permission, but Chobits and XXXHolic are not mine! Funny story: I wrote most of this, but needed to edit it thoroughly so that's why it took so absurdly long.**_

* * *

><p><em>Time is an illusion, or is it?<em>_  
><em>_Magic is an illusion, or is it?__  
><em>_Your soul sings a somber song__  
><em>_Begging for retribution__  
><em>  
><em>But are you willing to die to save the world{multiverse}?<em>

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 11: Magic and Miracles?<span>

_Something about you drew me in. I became so obsessed with you I didn't know what to do. You were well-off, and I was an heiress. We became friends, and it turned into a scandal. _

_We were drowning in our obsession with each other_.

_The resonance of our magic: this resonance of the souls._

* * *

><p><em>...<em>

Leaning on the gnarled iron railing, a tall, elf-eared Persocom stared into the darkness. From the balcony she could see the unmoving fireflies of the city suspended in the darkness, polluting the sky with unnatural light. Her sensors indicated that the smog was thick tonight, and coupling the distortion from that with the light, it looked like they could've been floating within a distorted nebula. Aside from that, being back in Tokyo was comforting, and staying here at Hiatte Hotel for a few days wasn't too bad either. She sighed and pushed back her lime sherbet bangs at the exact moment a gust of wind blew past the balcony.

The Persocom blinked a few times and reprocessed the feeling that had washed over her in that second.

Troubled, she walked back through the open door into the suite and yanked the sheets off of the King mattress. The one sleeping form on the bed sprang up immediately, fumbling for his glasses on the nightstand.

"I'm up Minako. I'm up!" He said hastily, affixing the spectacles on his face to glance at the time. If these stupid hotel clocks were malfunctioning again, then he would file a formal complaint. For the past few days he had set them to go off at 6 AM so he'd be in time for his lectures at the college, but unfortunately they never worked, and his wife had to wake him up in that same, rather violent manner.

He was understandably upset to learn that he'd only been asleep two hours, and that it was definitely not the next morning. He had just been getting into REM sleep, too. Great. Another day of students whispering that he was a disheveled wreck behind his back, and another day of rushing into the lecture hall in a rush.

"Junji," said Minako, her expression bewildered. "We've got trouble."

"Trouble?"

"The explosion of power I just sensed, it was..." she grew strangely quiet, concentrating on what she had felt.

The man didn't even have to hear any more to know what was going on. Such was the life of a District Chief such as him. Junji slumped forward; being a travelling professor was stressful enough, but his other responsibilities were beginning to wear on him. He was feeling older than he should be lately, and it was getting ridiculous how many places were aching.

"We have to go check it out, right?" he said, looking at her and pouting.

Minako smiled faintly at his poor attempt at a puppy face. "I'm afraid so."

Running a hand over his face, Junji cursed.

* * *

><p>虚<p>

* * *

><p>'<em><strong>Chii, you need to do something.'<strong>_

'_What, sister? Tell me what to do.'_

'_**You need to reach her.'**_

'_How?'_

'_**Turn yourself into nothingness.'**_

'_What?'_

* * *

><p>何か<p>

* * *

><p>Hideki didn't understand what he had seen in the past few moments. He had the worst case of Deja Vu, and his mind was still trying to wrap around the giant blade that Garrett had summoned. For a few seconds Hideki gawked at the sword, which was just as tall (if a bit taller than) himself, and had just been used to reduce the door to splinters.<p>

The questions were spilling out of his brain faster than his own mouth could process:

"Where's Amber-chan? What just happened here? And where the heck did you get that sword?" he babbled, pointed to the weapon Garrett firmly grasped in his hands.

The Chobit didn't respond, but filed those questions away for later, instead focusing on the retreating ball of light in the night sky. It wasn't imagined then, that feeling from before. The sudden outrush of pent up magical energy could only mean one thing: the seal had been undone. How it was broken, he did not know, but he knew that she couldn't sustain flight for long.

Before they left, Amber had already spent the time(and magic) to make sure that the runes they had placed around Gub Jogasaki were operational, and so he knew her reserves were already low by the time she had disappeared.

How long could he himself stay airborne? From checking his power levels, only two or three minutes. And she was already too far away.

'_Darn it…'_

Minoru and Yuzuki could see the internal battle within his mind. The young genius had correctly deduced that Amber had indeed freed herself, but why she took off was a mystery. He did not know how long she could stay flying like that, for how was not familiar enough with magic, but he assumed that it wasn't for long. Unfortunately that would mean her very untimely death, and Minoru didn't want to attend a funeral anytime soon.

"There must be something we could do," said Yuzuki, casing a worried glance off into the night. The cold nipped at them through the gaping hole in the wall, and the five man band stood immobile in the moonlight.

The wind howled through the building, and Chii raised her head.

"Chii will do it."

* * *

><p>首謀<p>

* * *

><p><em><strong>Meanwhile…<strong>_

"That was nice," said Zima, clapping as the last song finished up rather neatly, echoing softly into the dark arena.

Dita frowned. "It was alright, nothing to win a Grammy over."

"You're a harsh critic," he replied, leaning forward on the steel garter to get a better view of the singer. His eyes scanned the crowd, recognizing most of the Persocoms that were present at the concert. Being who(what?) he was, Zima knew every single one of them by name. "I'm pretty sure that tonight she won't try anything, don't you think, Dita?"

His partner shrugged. It was possible that she was biding her time. But what was she waiting for?

They would learn soon enough, that was for sure.

* * *

><p>変換<p>

* * *

><p>"Chii will save Amber-chama," repeated our real heroine. To everyone's shock, she had offered to jump out the window and save the heiress, and everyone could see the fire of determination flicker in her eyes like a newly lit torch. Hideki couldn't say what had brought about this change in Chii this night, but he didn't like it at all. Though he had seen her glide through the air like a luminescent dove in the darkness before, he wasn't sure if she could do so again.<p>

"What if you fall, Chii? I don't want to lose you!" he protested, already moving to block her escape.

Garrett hadn't even computed the thought of asking her to do such a thing, but he didn't know what to say to stop her. Yes, Mihara had refused to share some of his flight designs with Dr. Lee-Young, but how effective they were at actually achieving it, he was skeptical.

"Chii can do it, Hideki," she told her boyfriend. "Freya told Chii how to do it."

And with that, she sprinted to the ledge where the hole began on the floor and sprung off into the starry darkness.

In her descent, Chii closed her eyes. The spot in her heart, the place that she went to see Freya, it was there she reached for as the dark ground came rushing up to meet her. Chii's feet began to glow, the light slowly spreading up her legs. Her body began to slow down its decent, as if a pocket of air had puffed up from below to catch her.

Everyone's hearts (so to speak) leapt up into their mouths as they rushed to the opening.

Hideki nearly cried out her name.

But.

Then a single, glowing form rose up in the sky to chase the blazing ball of light.

* * *

><p>輝き<p>

* * *

><p>High above the city, Junji sat on his staff cruising through the cool night air, trying not to fall off and crack open his skull. From the end of his staff was a small white string that looped around Minako's waist—the only thing keeping her aloft in the air next to him. The thin wooden rod had a weight limit, so of course his wife couldn't sit behind him.<p>

"Oh, Tokyo," sang Junji, the wind rustling his short hair. "Oh, Tokyo! I love my city so…"

"Can you be serious?" asked Minako, who had been scanning the area for any anomalous readings.

"I am serious," he said, blinking slowly. He could sense the residual traces of magic in the air, and they were getting very close, from what he could tell.

Beside him, Minako let out three short beeps. Her eyes refocused, and she held the side of her head, rereading the results. "I've found the source, or rather sources," she announced.

"Good job, Minako!" he said. At least it hadn't taken very long to do pinpoint the disturbance. The sooner he could get to sleep, the better.

"They're moving quite fast," said Minako, "we have to intercept them."

"Which way?"

"Northeast," she said, pointing to their left. If they could increase their speed by 2km per hour, then they could probably catch up. Minako and Junji looked in the direction she had indicated, and both were at a loss for an explanation.

"Do you see that?" Minako tugged on Junji's sleeve to make sure he was paying attention to what she was seeing.

Her husband rubbed his eyes in confusion. "Are those stars? They're so bright." There were a number of things that he immediately thought of that could radiate such an aura, but what would they be doing over such an urbanized area like this?

"That seems to be where the waves of magical power are emanating from."

"But..." Junji looked to the two lights uneasily.

Minako adjusted her vision to account for the glare of the stars and extra light radiating from the forms. "Oh my..." Her face was a mix of shock and amusement. She giggled at the thought that this was what she had been so worried about earlier.

"What is it? Is something wrong?" Laughing was not the response that Junji had expected.

"It's a couple of girls," she said calmly—the statement nearly making her partner fall off his staff.

* * *

><p>便利<p>

* * *

><p>What could he do? Garrett had failed to save her, and now she was in danger yet again. Though this time it was partially her fault, he assumed that whatever those two had in mind for her weren't pleasant at all. Garrett gripped the sword tighter, a murderous thought brewing in the back of his mind.<p>

"Garrett-san."

Right before him, Minoru had been watching him closely since Chii had left. "Do you think we should notify the authorities?"

It wasn't a stupid question; Minoru was correct in his assumption that the police would pry too much into the situation, and the main reason for this caution was the inexplicable role that magic played. Amber had, for lack of a better term, gone berserk for some unknown reason, created a giant explosion, and leapt out into the night, coasting on the wind while shining like a giant nightlight from the amount of power she currently was radiating.

But it didn't hurt to ask.

Garrett gave him an eyebrow raise, which probably could be translated along the lines of: "Maybe later…"

What did bother the two boys was what the citizens of Tokyo would think of not one, but two glowing girls flying above their city. Garrett knew that the population of magical inhabitants would have to cover it up as they always did, and alter few memories in the process. He hoped that they didn't catch her before Chii caught up, because then the consequences wouldn't be so pretty.

Hideki, meanwhile, was throwing a dejected, hollow glare at the night sky. He kept forgetting how amazing Chii was, and all the things she had accomplished. One of them, flying, he had seen only once before for himself. The young man didn't know what to think, really. Especially after the appearance of a sword from nowhere and the weird things that he witnessed tonight, it just wasn't plausible to dismiss such things as normal. It wasn't that bad of a night aside from the kidnapping and his girlfriend jumping from the eight stories, but he seriously couldn't figure out an explanation for all of it.

"Why, Chii? " he muttered.

"_Because...she's a good person!"_

"Wait, what's that supposed to mean?" Hideki figured that Chii must still be confused. This was the second time he'd heard her refer to Amber as a 'person'.

The whole week he could sense something was odd about those two Americans, but still couldn't come up win a logical conclusion. One reason for this was that Hideki, although not as bright as Minoru, didn't rightly believe in magic. I was something that made a good element for a story to have, but fantasy things like that never happened in the real world. Sure, he'd seen Chii do the nigh-impossible, but he only chalked that up to the fact that she wasn't human. His brain simply couldn't add all of this up to magic, no way.

* * *

><p>鳩.<p>

* * *

><p>Why was this rage consuming her? Why did her magic go haywire? All Amber could remember was wanting to get away, and a loud, resonating chime. After that, she had blacked out. Then when awoke, she was flying.<p>

This was a peculiar event…

Power radiated from every inch if her skin, it was a strange prickling feeling that vibrated from her head to her toes, causing her to light up the sky. Amber did know that she would run out fairly soon, and that for some reason she did not care in the least. Over the years her self-loathing had been suppressed, along with her magic, but being high above the city like this, her rage goaded on by that perverted idiot like a furious bull, all the girl could see right now was bright bloody red. Even if she were to fall, she was sure nothing would happen. The prophecy, after all probably could be fulfilled without her being alive. It did say that whoever had the heart of the butterfly will have the key. It never said that it had to be beating.

"…"

'_But what about Elda?'_ asked her conscience. '_Who will protect her?'_

"..."

'_This wind pushing at my back…feels nice…'_

Yes who would protect her? Guilt was setting in. Maybe she should land after all. Minoru, Yuzuki and Hideki couldn't fend off the rest of the contestants by themselves, and if she died, then Garrett wouldn't be able to use his sword.

As she contemplated this, Amber looked around briefly, only to be hit with unconsciousness once again.

Funny, this time she didn't even feel tired at all.

The last thing she remembered seeing was Elda smiling at her in the darkness.

* * *

><p>...<p>

"That's not good," said Junji, looking at the now-falling figure. "You think we—," He was getting ready to catch the plummeting figure by speeding up his flight. She had stopped glowing, and now she was descending on a downward arc toward the ground. Her eyes were closed (though he could not see that), Junji noticed that the amount of magic being released had almost cut off completely.

"Wait, Junji." Minako directed his attention to the other glowing girl who had suddenly dove after the other. It wasn't long after the first was caught by the second, and after a moment, they floated gently to the ground below.

When the two saw that there was nothing to worry about, Junji turned around and headed back for the hotel. It seems that they would have some damage control to do tomorrow, but at least they didn't have to intervene with anything too serious.

* * *

><p>...<p>

After about an hour of waiting, Garrett sighed in relief and looked down at the light blue card in his hands. It seemed that everything was alright, wasn't it? He, Minoru and Hideki had decided to call the police after all, but decided to hightail it before they showed up. Now they were in a car, heading back to the apartment. The party of four was silent for quite some time, so one of the 'coms decided that some conversation would help to lighten the mood.

"I have the location of Miss Chii and Miss Amber if you would like?" said Yuzuki.

"I already know," said Garrett, trying to crack a smile.

"You do?" said Hideki from the seat next behind Garrett. He was sitting in the front seat next to the driver, so no one could see his face at the moment, but that statement really had stuck Hideki's curiosity. Minoru was wedged in the middle of Hideki and Yuzuki, and he glanced at Garrett with an interested look similar to the one Hideki wore now.

"I'm not sure how to tell you, Motosuwa-san, actually."

"Huh?" replied the young man. So there was an explanation for all the strange happenings today? "Oh, if you want to explain what we all just saw, then go ahead."  
>Garrett knew this guy was strangely open, but he wondered how much he could actually take in one night.<p>

"Well," said Hideki, "I think I may already know." He gave an embarrassed smile when the boy turned around in the front to gawk at him with a steady, calculating look that beckoned him to continue. "The thing you wanted to tell us, was that Amber-chan is a Chobit, right?"

At the revelation of this belief, Garrett, Minoru, and even Yuzuki broke into large grins. The Persocom in the front seat started to chuckle in a low voice.

'_Huh…?'_

"That's not it?" said Motosuwa, blushing now.

"Not quite," said Garrett. "I'll tell you tomorrow."

* * *

><p><em><strong>The next morning…<strong>_

The sun was shining as bright as it could manage through the thick layer of clouds hanging overhead. They were clumped together tightly like a mass of squished together wet cotton- balls. Walking hand in hand, Hideki and Chii were on their way to Kokubunji's. Chii dressed in a plain white dress and her boyfriend. After she had caught Amber, the precious little Chobit had done something very smart: she had called a cab and went back home.

Ms. Hibiya wasn't at a meeting, so she had been home. That was fortunate, because she paid the fare without complaint and helped Chii bring Amber up to her apartment. That night, she and Chii had a very long talk. Of course, it wasn't long after that Yuzuki and the boys arrived home, sporting two stoic faces, a concerned but confident smile, and one very baffled expression.

In any case, the two would figure everything out today. Chii, although she had saved the girl, still had not disclosed directly to Hideki Amber's true nature, because of what she had discussed with her mother the other night.

Chii was observing her surroundings, an activity that she always took up while they travelled to Kokubunji's house. The neighborhood always was different each time, and the differences were fun to point out to her boyfriend, because he often explained whatever things she didn't understand. When she spotted a familiar pair of glasses, mess of brown hair, and characteristic cocky strut, Chii frowned slightly as she pointed to the young man walking on the opposite side of the street.

"Dragonfly," she said softly, to which Hideki took notice. They crossed the road to meet up with him, which Kojima knew he wasn't going to like at all. He stopped in his tracks despite wanting to run away.

"Hey!" said Hideki, waving at Kojima. "How're you?"

_Great,_ he thought, _those two. _Kokubunji hadn't told him that they would be the 'special guests' that would be joining them for tea.

"I'm fine, Motosuwa," he said curtly. Koji-kun stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked askance.

"How is Kotoko?' said Chii. She had taken a liking to the saucy mobile unit. Kotoko was very frank, and at times it bordered on brutally honest, but sometimes she could be very very funny. That was what Chii liked most—her sense of humor.

"Well, we haven't seen her since we gave her back," said Hideki, scratching behind his head. "So we kind of miss her a lot."

'_She'll be happy to hear that,'_ thought Dragonfly. Kojima smiled at their interest in Kotoko, when it came to his computers he was happy to talk about them no matter how grumpy he was feeling.

"Oh, I just bought her a new body, and it'll take a while for all her data to be transferred."

In fact, that was the only reason he had left her at home. He opted for overnight shipping for the new body, and he was so happy to add all the extra memory and other features. It cost a little extra, but he had been saving for a while and the extra money he had received from those two guys helped. It took all of his available units, though, to be able to finish the process, and even so, Kojima wasn't too thrilled to leave her behind. He explained that it was a full-sized model, so she was bound to be content at that.

Hideki was happy for her, actually. "Really?" He wondered if Sumomo would enjoy such a thing as well. Not only that, but since he was still learning about computers, he was interested in knowing about the process.

"Yeah, I don't like copying data, so I just opt for immediate transfer." Kojima smiled wryly. "It's completely normal for it to take a while."

And so, discussing the specifics about what he had planned, Kojima joined Chii and Hideki on their trip to Kokubinji's. It was where he was going in the first place, so it didn't matter too much.

* * *

><p>百合<p>

* * *

><p>Yuzuki and Garrett were in the courtyard of the Kokubunji estate, conversing who knows what, while their partners were left to discuss their own matters. The Chobit wasn't pleased to leave Amber alone with Minoru, but Yuzuki assured him and offered to make some tea to have in hand as they chat themselves, despite the two Persocoms being unable to drink.<p>

In Minoru's study, there was an assortment of snacks. Several petite cakes of many different flavors cut into squares; covered in an array of colored icings, lay on a tiered tray in the middle of the coffee table. Beside that was a platter of fresh fruit, mostly the halves of grapes and slices of cantaloupes, those types of things. Just next to that were a bowl of Doritos and a bowl of regular salted potato chips side by side. Artichoke dip and other condiments were on the other side of the table, next to the California rolls.

It was too much for just the two children to eat by themselves, obviously.

Chii, Motosuwa, and even Kojima (for whatever reason) had been invited as well, so the food Yuzuki and Yuki had prepared would not be wasted.

Amber steeled herself against the muffled swears her stomach emitted. Skipping breakfast wasn't a very smart idea, but considering what had recently happened, her appetite had reason to wax and wane like it did.

'_But never mind that,'_ she thought, trying to break up the older memories threatening to cloud her present frame of mind. All she wanted to do was forget last night and move on with her original plan. Before the others arrived, she wanted to give Minoru something.

"I have a gift for you, Minoru," she said. At her feet was a large black bag, one you'd get at a department store after buying some snazzy, overpriced apparel. Out of the bag she lifted a box that was about as wide and long as her forearm, sky blue in color and tied with a bright red ribbon around it.

Minoru held the box in his hand for a moment before opening the package.

In those few seconds the world stopped spinning.

'_Kaede, please don't die...'_

Resting in a nest of tissue paper was a thin grey rod, and attached to one end of it was a yellow five-point star. The boy lifted the object out of the box and made a very astute observation.

"A wand?" he whispered.

'_I want to believe in miracles, I want you to live!'_

If the events of the past few days were not enough to sway his skeptic's outlook on life, then this moment was the one where all of his 'everything must be founded in data' gobbledygook was flushed clean away. A part of Minoru's heart that had once been sealed off, suddenly opened up.

_'Magic and miracles do exist,'_ echoed his sister's voice in his mind. '_Don't let this convince you otherwise.'_

His eyes welled up with tears, threatening to overflow from the mix of joy and pain that had emerged.

It was only when he felt Amber's hand rest on his shoulder that he realized that he'd been crying. She couldn't just let him be, even though he acted so stoic all the time. After all he was still a kid, no matter how mature he acted.

Even so, she knew precisely why he'd reacted this way.

"So now you believe, huh Min-kun?" she said, trying to wipe away the tears forming in her own eyes.

* * *

><p><em>I'll meet you there, at the gates of heaven and hell<em>

_Where the heart of time beats endlessly_

_What will happen to my soul? I don't know._

_I just want to hear your voice, and when our time comes,_

_Then we can be together._

_But what about everyone? What'll they do?_

_The world. I don't want it to end._

_We'll stop it together then._


	13. Chapter 12: The Fourth Wall?

_**Prepare for…some slight OOC moments. At least I think so. But hey, magic makes people crazy. What can I say? Be on the lookout for some foreshadowing, and if you get the chance, check out the prequel, "Puella Magi Yūko Magica"! If you know the series, you might know what I mean.**_

* * *

><p><em>Knowing when to stop<em>

_Is not something I know how to do_

_I need to stop_

_Stop_

_STOP!_

…

_It all stops_

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 12: The Fourth Wall?<span>

_Enciclopedia Magica » Questionable Competitions » "The Game" » Artifacts » Registro delle Anime_

_The Subcriptio de Animas, (also known as Registro delle Anime or simply the S-registry) is a very well-known magical artifact. Its uses are mostly limited to tracking and location of souls. It is a vital (nearly invaluable) item used in the ever infamous "Game", and has been seen with the earliest of players. _

_Once a player or supporting character has been entered into "The Game", their name appears in the S-Registry, with limited information shown about them. If they are nearby, however, the tome in which the registry is linked to shall alert the owner. _

_Its uses aren't limited to only tracking souls within the competition. Once the Magi or their Famulus can recognize the Soul Signature of any person, it is possible to track them down using the registry and a simple scrying ceremony. _

…_For further information regarding the S-registry, please see Magical Tomes and Artifacts._

* * *

><p>躁鬱<p>

* * *

><p>Chii had a very peculiar dream the night that she saved Amber. Freya was with her in Papa's old laboratory, and they were both wearing pink gowns. Papa was apologizing, but she couldn't hear what he was saying exactly. All she knew is that he was sorry about something, and it showed on his face.<p>

Something about a girl?

There was blood. It was on her hands. Chii could see it shining on her palms, but wondered why Freya did not have any on her.

Instead, Freya…was crying.

She reached out to her sister and wrapped her arms around her twin, but Freya continued to cry. The blood was still fresh, so it smeared against her sister's clothes.

Something had…happened, hadn't it?

There was a man being taken away by some strange robed people. There were two of them holding long wooden sticks. Chii couldn't see their faces because the robes they wore had hoods, and there wasn't enough light for her optics. Freya was sad; Chii couldn't remember when she had seen her sister like this other than when she was about to die.

But still…Chii remembered. Mama had given her the disk, so Chii remembered. It had taken a very long time to process the memories, but…that blood belonged to her friend. Their friend.

Their very best friend.

Chii had saved her for a second time last night.

* * *

><p>魔法授業<p>

* * *

><p>"Alright, Min-kun. Time for your first lesson."<p>

Amber leaned back in the chair at his desk, putting her feet up in front of her. The sound effect for a high-class lady's laughter faded in and out beside her head. 'ホホホ' read the katakana, which was repeating itself for no reason other than effect.

Minoru was going to yell at her for trying to ruin his desk with her boots, but was too distracted by the content of her declaration to care otherwise.

"My first—what?" Maybe he hadn't heard her clearly. Perhaps his ears were still clogged from the last time he went swimming. She didn't just say he had a 'lesson', now did she?

"Don't play dumb." She sat upright in the chair and propped up her head on the desk using her hands, and three 'フ's appeared this time. "You heard me, wand up!"

"Augh…" Directly above Minoru a giant 'モーッ' ascended from nonexistence to protest this new development. He squinted at the girl who was (at least she appeared to be) mocking him and frowned deeply, angry at himself for not realizing why he had been given such a gift in the first place.

"By the way, when is everyone else coming?" Her smile turned positively patronizing.

His palm became a resting spot for his forehead. "Within the hour."

"I think we can accomplish a lot in that timeframe, don't you think?"

"R-right," he agreed, begrudgingly at best, his forehead still touching his palm and looking at her through his dark bangs.

"Now hold your wand like so." She curled her fingers like she was gripping a violin bow, except the index finger was pointing apart from the others. Minoru mimicked this with his wand, the star trembling at the end of it because of his shaky hand.

"Yes, excellent." She clapped. (Was that out of amusement or congratulations?) In any case, Minoru had pretty good form. "First off we shall start with the four basic elementals."

火(Hi) – Incendio

水(Mizu) – Aquos

土(Tsuchi)- Terrarus

風(Kaze)- Ventus

Each Kanji had its turn to take up the screen, and beside each of them Amber chose to pose like a character in an eyecatch. Once she got all of that silliness out of her system, Amber got serious.

"Incendio is the easiest of the four, but for some reason I'm thinking you will fare better with Aquos. "

"Let me guess: Incendio is fire and Aquos is water? "

"Precisely! Your Latin is pretty top-notch."

He decided to ignore the compliment.

'_No wonder he finished the book and even made a pact._'

Amber pressed her finger to his nose. "Hmmm…Do you know how to do everything, Minoru?"

He flinched more at the lack of his nickname than the absence of an honorific.

"I don't know how to do everything. I only know how to learn at an efficient pace and act upon my knowledge accordingly."

Amber rolled her eyes towards the ceiling. "Geez, give a guy a compliment and he self-deprecates himself. "

"Why do you think I'd be better at water?"

"Uh..." She stared at his dark blue hair and eyes for a few seconds. "No reason…" And with that she rested her right cheek within her hand, like one of those fujoshi girls within a BL daydream.

Minoru looked at the (pretty much sparkling) image of his new "teacher."

'_What a liar..._'

"So all you have to do it swish your wand upwards in a fluid motion and yell _'Aquos!_', and let the power flow like water from your toe tips to your arms."

She demonstrated the motions.

Looking at his arm and trying out the motion, Minoru thought over what she said. "And for _Incendio_?"

"For that, you need to thrust your arm out like you're fencing. Then you focus all your energy on one point at the end of the wand. After, you say 'Incendio!' In a loud voice."

Amber also used herself as an example this time as well.

Watching her fence against an invisible opponent, Minoru nndded in understanding. "Does the order in which you do the motions even matter in relation to the incantation?"

"Of course! For Aquos the incantation acts like a faucet opening, and then the power you supply is transmuted into water. For the other spell, the power you supply at first is like pouring out some gunpowder, and the incantation ignites the released mana."

"Curious. Is there a more detailed book on the matter?"

"Heheh, I can already tell..." She snickered and bit her lip, giving him an intense stare with slotted eyes.

"What?"

"You're going to be one powerful Mage. Most likely you'll start writing your own spells at one point, once you've got the theory down. You already have such an interesting mind, but I am sure of it, you'll want to become a Magister Magi."

He had seen that term in the book.

"Is that what you want to do, Lee-Young-san?"

"I told you Min-kun..." Amber stretched his cheeks like they were deflated rubber balloons. Her smile was a deceptively sweet mask that her irritation. "You don't have to be so polite all the time. What's with you and speaking in _Keigo_ all the time? (Though there are some who are moé for that…) I'm your frieeeend. At least call me a _nickname_ or something!"

"Oh." He paused in thought for moment, and then punched his palm in realization. "Okay. How about, 'Haku-chan'?"

She wasn't about to be named after that dude from an anime. Not even if it was a shortened version of her name translated into Japanese. In fact, that alone made it worse. Minoru tried to ignore the glare he was getting and smiled good-naturedly.

"If you don't like that, then we could always call you 'Tsundere-chan'.*"

For a genius/rich-kid who was usually so polite and formal, this was surprising. Especially since he called her 'omae' instead of 'anata', as usual.

"What!" Her face somehow lost all of its color. She became a husk of a person, only a paper cutout of what she once was.

Minoru took the lack of response as an acceptance of some sort. "So you like that one?" He was acting his age now, and it was very unsettling, especially the devious grin he was developing. "Then it's settled. You are now Tsundere-chan."

He found himself in a headlock five seconds later.

_'Maybe I should have called her Yandere-chan instead?_' He thought, laughing silently to himself.

* * *

><p>莫迦物語<p>

* * *

><p>Hideki and Chii were at the forefront of the little party arriving at the mansion. Kojima took up the rear and grumbling about something incomprehensible to himself. Hideki noted that he'd never seen the front windows of the place looking so fresh and clear. But he dismissed it, reminding himself that Minoru had at least six Persocoms to help him with cleaning, so he chalked it up to being unobservant those other times he visited. The trio was greeted by Yuki this time and as usual per their entrance, took their shoes and gave them some house slippers. She bowed once before leading them to the sitting room stationed outside Minoru's study.<p>

"Please make yourselves comfortable," she droned. "I will return shortly."

With all three pairs of shoes in hand, she walked down the hallway and turned the corner.

"So what do you think Minoru's called us here for?" said Kojima, resting his neck on the back of the chair he was sitting on. It was a muted green armchair and beside it was a tiny mahogany side table with a picture of Minoru sternly staring straight ahead. The picture was facing Kojima at an angle, yet for some reason he felt it was watching him.

"Honestly, I don't know," said Hideki, closing his eyes to think. Immediately after he said that, Chii gave a bright smile and giggled, giving his hand a squeeze.

"Chii knows," she announced.

One of Hideki's eyes popped open and rolled around to look at Chii. He wasn't sure if she was serious, but was still taken aback that she had said that.

"What? Why didn't you tell me?" he said, frowning.

"Hideki did not ask," clarified Chii, giving a shrug, an action she had seen on television many times before when Hideki was not home.

He was surprised even further at this declaration. In fact, he was quite mad. Platinum Mad, in fact!

Unfortunately, when Hideki gets Platinum Mad, his voice also gets quite whiny and high.

"So if I don't ask you won't tell me?" he said, riling himself up more than needed. "D-don't you think that's sort of, I dunno, unfair?"

"Chii has her reasons." She pressed a finger to her lips coyly and winked.

This, of course, floored Hideki once more. For one, she winked at him. Genuinely, honestly winked for god's sake. His anger quickly morphed into embarrassment, making his face a nice rosy red.

Kojima rolled his eyes. In the distance there was a muffled shout, and his ears pricked up.

"Hey, do you hear that?" said Kojima, unfolding his arms and looking forward, to Minoru's study.

"What?" said Hideki, lifting a hand to his ear. Chii mirrored his action as she did in the old days.

"Listen..." he whispered. Kojima stood and walked to the door. He motioned for the others to join him, and pressed his left ear to the door. Hideki pressed his right ear to the door, and Chii did the same.

All three of them clearly heard young boy's voice.

"Don't you think this is enough?"

"Sounds like Minoru-kun," said Chii, stating the obvious. It was quite easy to identify his voice, but it usually never sounded so distressed.

"What? No! Why're you putting it away?" said a distinctly female speaker. "We were just getting started, so whip it back out!" Her accent was bordering on the line of believable and pretty darn foreign, and was out of breath from the sound of it.

"I'm a bit tired," said Minoru, who was panting heavily as well. "Maybe we can try again later?"

The response from the girl was immediate.

"Unacceptable," she scoffed in a haughty tone. "You need more practice."

"Really now, what's the rush? This is my first time doing something like this!" protested Minoru.

Hideki's thoughts were suddenly wandering into the section of his mind labeled 'ADULT' for no apparent reason. His blush from before became even more pronounced, yet he had to keep listening. It reminded him of the time he caught Shinbo and Ms. Shimizu almost-kissing, except he couldn't see what was happening.

"There's no rush. You just need to keep at it!" countered the girl.

"But—," said Minoru, trying to get out of whatever she was trying to make him do. He was interrupted though, and you could basically hear him sulking.

"You're young!" The girl was trying to encourage him now, despite his adamant refusal. "You'll spring back in no time, I promise you. Your body will gain more stamina in time."

Hideki pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes.

"Yeah, you would know, right?" he said, trying to cut her down with sarcasm.

Of course, it backfired, and the following statement nearly made Hideki faint.

"Exactly, because I am a Professional!" she said proudly.

Instead of falling unconscious, Hideki's brain chose the only other option for his body—to collapse on the floor and stare into space aimlessly. Kojima and Chii looked to where their comrade in eavesdropping had landed.

"Why're you on the floor?' said the two of them at once. Kojima was more annoyed than curious, and Chii was more curious than annoyed. The door opened while they were still staring at Hideki.

"Oh," said Yuki, her hands on the door handle. "Why are you thee sitting so close to doorway?"

Somehow she had already gone into the study before them by another route.

"Nothing," said Chii, her face a shining ball of innocent sunshine and happiness.

Minoru was flopped onto the couch near the middle of the room, lying on his belly. He looked up weakly from the seat toward the doorway. His hand clutching the wand quickly buried the instrument in the crease of the couch.

"Y-Yuki?" he said.

"The guests have arrived, Lord Minoru," said Yuki, adjusting her glasses. One corner of her mouth fell by 2 millimeters, the sternest frown that anyone could get from her.

"Hello, everyone," said Minoru. He used the edge of the coffee table to pull himself up. "I'm glad to see you've been able to make it." A few of the trays rattled as he did so, and Amber came over to help him. Hideki wondered what exactly had been going on as they were listening, but figured he shouldn't ask any questions. That would mean that he was an eavesdropper, and he couldn't take another title burned onto his reputation.

Kojima was silent for a few moments. "Yeah…" The young man scratched the back of his head and looked towards the window. _'It wasn't like I had anything better to do,'_ he thought to himself. "You said you wanted to see me?"

"Us too!" said Chii, waving a hand around in the air. Beside Hideki fiddled with his thumbs, looking quite guilty for some reason. His eyes wandered from person to person before settling on their host.

"Hey, Kokubunji," said Hideki. "Amber-san," he added, his head nodding in a semi-bow toward her direction.

Kojima suddenly donned a similar look to Hideki's.

"Yuki, could you please call Garrett and Yuzuki from the courtyard?"

"I shall send Yuzuki-sempai a message." Yuki's eyes unfocused for three seconds before turning to normal. She bowed in Minoru's direction and blinked once. "They are on their way, sir."

Kojima began to fidget where he was seated, and the others wondered why he was muttering to himself. It was suspicious, but they all knew that Kojima was a pretty suspicious person to begin with, so they attributed it to their personal view of him. His eyes were all over the place, looking from Minoru to Amber to all the available exits.

He knew that Persocom looked familiar. If this Garrett person was her owner also happened to be acquainted with Minoru, then...

A certain Dragonfly was about to go splat.

But wait...why would they lure him here if they knew the truth? Minoru had warned him that if he stepped out of line again, that they'd take more drastic measures for the next incident. That would possibly mean jail time. Wait, not possibly, definitely.

But everyone was acting so nice! If they really knew about it, then the police would've already picked him up.

"Hey guys," said Garrett, with Yuzuki following in behind him.

"Alright, now that everyone's here…we have an announcement for you." Minoru held out his wand and inadvertently used it as a pointing stick.

"You're..." began Hideki.

"An otaku?" finished Kojima sarcastically. The word 'otaku' hovered in the air for a few seconds before fading away.

Minoru noticed he was holding the wand in plain sight.

"Chiiiii," Hideki's girlfriend uttered in a content voice.

Amber took a deep breath, and then the truth rushed out all at once. "Hideki is the only one who didn't know at this point, but I'm not a Persocom." She added a little nervously at the end: "In fact, I'm 75% human."

"I seeeee," Hideki breathed—taking this in stride. For some reason he was calm, and Chii wondered why he was acting so strangely.

Little did she know, Hideki was panicking inside. A little chibi version of himself was running around in his head, sifting through his most recent memories. There just had to be some evidence that indicated that he wasn't completely unobservant.

'_I must be dreaming,_' thought Hideki to himself. _'There's no way that she can be human, can she_?' He was beginning to wobble where he sat, rocking from side to side like a punching bag.

He looked at those dark brown eyes once more.

Amber giggled, and then proceeded to blow their minds. With her left hand she took a firm grip on the headband that the Persocom ears were attached to. And then she yanked them off.

"What did you just do to yourself Amber-san?!" cried Hideki. "Doesn't it hurt?" He looked to Garrett, who smiled back like she'd done a magic trick or something.

"So you're not a Persocom?" Kojima's heart stopped. _'What did I do?' He thought 'I handed over a cosplayer over to those guys!_' Then he paused that train of thought. _'Wait a minute..._'

"How did you escape?!"

"What?" said everyone at once.

"Uh…Ignore me," Kojima suggested.

"That isn't all," said Chii, who was pouting. "Ototōchan!"

She was pointing to Garrett, and the boy put his hands up in front of his chest.

"You got me Ane," he replied.

Even Amber was confused. _'Since when does Chii call him that?_'

Garrett peered into her thought bubble on the page and nodded. "Good question, Amber." He nodded and closed his eyes as if in deep thought. "Chii called me using Ms. Hibiya's phone last night. That's how I knew you were safe."

'_A mind reader?_' Hideki was getting ready to take Chii and run.

"I can only read minds because this is a manga," explained Garrett with a silly grin. "They smash the fourth wall all the time."

"Since when are we a manga?" Shouted everyone except Chii, and sweat drops hung from every head like oversized hair clips.

"Chii...?"

Kojima was still distracted by the strange revelation from before. He wasn't even sure why he was here in the first place, but he had the ill feeling that it was going to involve a lot of work.

Hideki was still trying to figure out how Amber was a human.

"You see, Motosuwa...-san, I'm a Persocom." Garrett smiled. "To be more specific, I'm #4 in the Chobits series."

Parts of Hideki's brain were splattered on the floor from the second logic bomb that just went off.

"This just cannot be real?!"

The boy was on the floor, twitching as if he'd just been attacked with a Taser.

"Is Hideki okay?" said Chii, touching his forehead to his own.

"Yeah, Chii, I'm alright," he said, which didn't convince anyone in the slightest.

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Yeah! I'm fine. You probably could shoot me with a gun and I'd get up laughing!"

"Unfortunately, that's not even the half of it." Minoru scratched the back of his head. "You see…"

After about 30 minutes of explaining, it seemed Hideki was about to die from shock alone. Kojima took everything with a grain of salt, but he was still wary of the reason why he had been invited to this little get together of theirs.

An announcement by Yuki interrupted the festivities, and not for the better.

"A young woman was at the door for Mr. Yoshikuji," said Yuki, bowing slightly. Behind her was a slender young woman in a light purple sundress. Her hair reached to her knees and was parted into two plum-colored pigtails, held in place by a pair of jingle bell hair ties. No one could recognize her at first glance, save for a very irritated hacker.

Her dark purple eyes were a bit lost, as if she had just woken up after a very long night-shift at work.

"Kotoko? What're you doing here?" Kojima had decided he was taking the route to a Bad Ending, and walked over to her. He was worried that something had gone wrong during the data transfer, and wondered why she was behaving so unusually.

"…"

She didn't answer right away. In fact, she was so occupied with looking at Amber and Garrett, that Kojima might as well have been transparent. Her features darkened, and then, without warning, her hand smashed against his face. It was the equivalent of 0.4 tons travelling at 8.9 meters/sec. So in other words, a professional boxer just socked Kojima square in the jaw.

It really should have hurt him more than it did, but it was delivered with such precision that he could have taken a dozen more and still be able to stand up. Although, it still would hurt quite a bit despite how much Kotoko would aim for minimal damage.

A bruise was forming on his cheek. "What was that for?!"

"For that!" she said, pointing to a very confused little girl. Amber wondered why this 'Kotoko' woman was having such a violent reaction to her best friend/boyfriend/whatever he really was to her (Amber couldn't really tell by looking).

Clearly it had something to do with Amber, because Kotoko's finger was pointed right at her.

* * *

><p>承認<p>

* * *

><p>"Junji, I was wondering..." Minako and her husband were sitting on a park bench in the middle of <em>Shinjuku Gyoen<em>, relaxing after a full day's work. Junji had just finished his last lecture at Tokyo U, and it was the perfect place to recharge Persocoms in the sun, or so he had heard.

"Hmmm? About what?" said Junji, half-asleep and clutching her hand.

"Those girls the other night; they were odd." Minako blinked several times and thought back.

"How?"

"I tried to get a good photo of them that night, so that I could search for their faces. But when I compared them to photos of any known Mages in the Main Database..."

Junji sat up immediately, looking her in the eyes. Panic was all over his face, as if a new Demon Lord was going to rip up half of downtown.

"What are you saying? That they're not registered? We have to find them, then." He already was into his 'worried teacher' mode, and there wasn't much she could do to stop him. He was ranting now, and thinking of the many bad scenarios that could stem from such information. "You said they looked young—that means they should be in school!"

"Junji, wait." She pressed a finger to his sips to stop him from speaking. "That's not what I'm saying." The angry blush rising on her face was clue enough that something was wrong. "I'm saying...we didn't have high enough clearance to access their files."

* * *

><p><em>Encyclopedia Magica OLD EARTH ADMINISTRATION Registration <em>

_The secret of magic must be kept at all times. That is why the Registration act went into effect back around the 1600s. A group of foolish Mages made up of several underage girls and Adult men and women were caught leaving from performing a cleansing charm in the forest. The spirits and demons had been pressing in in their village lately, causing all sorts of havoc. To ward them away, the Mages decided to gather and cleanse the land of thief malevolent presence. Unfortunately the wards to keep the Mundanes away weren't executed properly, and 'the rest is history' they say._

_Therefore it is in the interest and safety of the magical public that once a child is old enough to attend Magic School, then they must be registered at their local Magical Chapter. The District Chiefs and their subordinates are in place to ensure that the existence of magic is handwaved as ludicrous. However, registration ensures that it will be much easier to track any misuse of magic. When they have grown to the age of 18, they are free from the restrictions placed upon them, but they know that then can be tried as an Adult Mage._

_For more info, please see the sections Underage Mages and/or Magical Education._

* * *

><p><em>*What Minoru said exactly was: <em>琥珀ちゃん、そのニックネームが気に入らない場合、我々は常に "ツンデレちゃん" まおまえ 呼び出すことができます。

* * *

><p><em><strong>Oh and I think I have a problem. I am <strong>_**obsessed**_** with Minoru. Augh, I feel like such a creeper. (Bad girl!) Anyway, as always, I hope you liked this chapter.**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>And now, a silly song for your enjoyment based off of "Fashionista" by Jimmy James:<strong>_

_The Game_

_Everybody line up!__  
><em>_The game is about to start.__  
><em>_Places!__  
><em>_The game is about to start.__  
><em>_You have to show a skill,__  
><em>_Have a trade, or cast a spell,__  
><em>_Wands? Beautiful._

_No one normal allowed._

_(Evil Laughter)_

_Are you ready? Here we go._

_.  
><em>_Magic is the art,__  
><em>_Many are the Gods,__  
><em>_Magi play the part of,__  
><em>_Angels in the dark__  
><em>_Which one of you would ever dare to go against,__  
><em>_That wishes are a trade,__  
><em>_and everyone is paid._

_Join in The Game,__  
><em>_How will you play?__  
><em>_Join in The Game,__  
><em>_Will you not stay?_

_What are you casting?__  
><em>_Where are you casting?_

_._

_Practe Bigi Nar, cullare terra dar!_

_Excitare lacrimi, mea virga veni!_

_Plures multis guttis ven, ni corar si mi canta_

_Veni mi minist, nihil care som._

_Oro are como visi, __Being good is never easy.__  
><em>_._

_Magic has a price._


	14. Omake 1

**_This short omake is just for fun. For your entertainment I shall insert myself into the story. If you do not wish to feel like you've been trolled—just don't read. Besides, I'm getting pretty burned out. This was stress relief. I recommend ignoring this if you want to keep your sanity, as I believe I have already lost mine. After this I'll resume where I left off._**

* * *

><p><span>Omake 1: "Answer all your questions? Sure…but, the fourth wall needs rebuilding!"<span>

I sat down at my computer and looked around to see if anyone was watching. Thankfully no one was. That was when I typed in my super-secret URL and typed in the username and password. It was done within thirty seconds—a new personal best.

A few more keystrokes and I was in. My finger pressed enter, and this world faded away.

_welcome, to the future_

When I came to, there was a crowd of people surrounding me. My eyes fluttered open and I heard someone sigh in relief. Unfortunately that person was Amber.

"You had us worried!" said Garrett before she could chew me out. I saw her shoot him a look of venom before helping me to my feet.

"Who is this?" Hideki said. He was looking at me and glancing at Garrett and Amber repeatedly.

"Oh, this is Webidolchiu94," said Amber, "she's the author."

"I must be dreaming," said Hideki, slapping his cheeks. First they told him about magic and hinted that they're in a manga. Now he was meeting the author. This was just too much for him.

"Just call me 'Chiu'," I muttered. For whatever reason my brain decided to notice what I was wearing—it was definitely not my oversized T-shirt and the teddy bear that I had been holding in my lap. No, I was in an all-black gown with an overabundance of ruffles that flopped practically everywhere. I frowned. This was not what I had expected. For one, it was too low-cut for my tastes, but whatever. At least no one I knew personally could see me.

"So, Chiu-san," said Hideki, "could you please tell me you're not responsible for all of _this_?" He gestured behind him, and I giggled in response to his distress.

"Oh, Hideki-kun, of course I am," I said immediately.

What he meant by "this" was that he, Chii and the gang were on the set of a talk show. A talk show I was going to be hosting of course. Above the stage

"Don't worry," I told him, "you won't remember any of this interview by the time the next chapter is released."

I raise my hand and a large black sun hat materialized within my palm. Thank you, Author Powers.

I placed it on my head and turned to the characters.

"Magic?" yelled all of the teenagers surrounding me.

"No, no," I corrected them. "I'm God over your world, remember?"

They all stared blankly into space as if trying to comprehend this very troublesome revelation. But then I waved my left arm and just like Q from _Star Trek_, reality warped around us according to my will. The power…it was intoxicating.

I chuckled under my breath. We all were at our stations at the aforementioned talk show stage. Chi and Hidek were sitting side by side on the large L-shaped red couch, as were Garrett and Amber. As for me, I was at my desk, facing the crew. Everyone was trying to get acclimated to the new environment, it seemed. No matter, the show had to go on.

The spotlights flickered on, and suddenly, we had an audience before us. Smooth jazz began to play as an interlude to the event, and I cleared my throat.

"Hello World!" I waved to the camera from my seat. "Welcome to Chiutan Yuujin-chou! Here we have the cast of the ever-popular story 'Eternal Flowers'"

The four of them looked at me as if I had grown seven heads.

"Say hello to your fans, everyone."

They waved towards the camera/audience rather feebly. However, this did not stifle the joy it brought the spectators.

"RAAAAAAAWRS!" The crowd went wild.

"So, shall be get to business?" From below my desk I took out various supplies. Mortar, several mason's trowels, a few stray bricks… well, I think everyone knows where I'm going with this.

"What are you doing?" yelled the producer. He stood up from his chair and shook his fist at me. The camera zeroed in on him. "You're supposed to be answering all the questions we got from the fans!"

"Answer all your questions?" I stared at the camera myself for a bit. I'm sure all the veiwers were quite spooked by my 'obsessive fangirl' look, but there was no time to be scared. This was a time for work. "Sure…but the fourth wall need rebuilding!"

Behind me, the four characters exchanged worried looks.

And for good reason, too. The fourth wall had to be rebuilt. It just had to be. If it wasn't, then the audience would be in danger.

Oh, from what? Why, from all the hell that was about to break loose, darlings.

END OF OMAKE ONE


	15. Chapter 13: A Dark Rabbit Has 7 Lives

_**Yes. I have a trope page now. One of my fans made it (in exchange for spoilers) and I am in a good mood. However, I would appreciate some Wild Mass Guessing on the pages soon. And so without further stalling...the next chapter awaits. **_

_**P.S. If you're wondering how Amber maintains her legs and other science facts, then repeat to yourself "It's just a story, I should really just relax." 'Lalalas' optional. However, I **_**might**_** just reveal all of that. I read a lot of sci-fi, so you never know.**_

* * *

><p><em>The circles circle, the circles circle<em>

_They surround us now, as they twi-rl_

_The circles circle, they go in circles_

_Spinning around a tiny gi-rl_

_._

_The Game must finish, she must be caught_

_It must end, so we were taught,_

_Her Past Life wove this cursed game,_

_She lives then dies, then lives again_

_._

_She never died, that was a trick, _

_For she is the key to Elysium,_

_Many may play but most will lose_

_The winner must be The One…_

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 13: A Dark Rabbit Has Seven Lives<span>

_Somewhere, above it all, a pink-haired goddess smiled. Everything was going according to how she foresaw it._

* * *

><p>…<p>

Overhead, the sky was clouding over, and the sun was quickly becoming obscured. Freya sat with her foot's sole flat on the wooden stool and glanced backwards at the gate she was leaning against. Inside was a vast garden spanning an unmeasured amount of land. However, one thing that dominated the skyline was a massive tree around 150 kilometers tall. Its branches reached upwards like someone grasping towards heaven.

How ironic, considering that it _was_ heaven.

Freya closed her eyes, the wind blowing the strands of platinum hair before her gently. The sun was coming out now, and its light shone upon the endless green fields, pooling around Freya and giving her a ghostly aura.

The entire environment was nearly dreamlike in its design…all of the perfection, all of the serenity and peace. It was _the_ place, the one and only place that it could possibly be.

_This_ was Elysium.

* * *

><p>条約<p>

* * *

><p>"I should really hurt you," said Kotoko. Her arms were folded across her now quite impressive chest, an action usually reserved for standby mode in the past. She was still glaring at Kojima as if she were going to hit him once again.<p>

The reasonably perplexed programmer flinched backwards from her glare. "What? Why?"

Kotoko's eyes darkened in anger as her glower became even more threatening. "So you haven't told them it seems."

Kojima held up his hands, mostly to try and block whatever attack she might throw this time. "Kotoko, hold on now, I.."

She cut him off.

"No, _Master,_ let me finish. When I rebooted after the transfer, I got down to thinking..."

He gulped. Lately when she got down to 'thinking', things became more strained between him and Minoru.

"That Persocom you handed over to them looked far too familiar to me."

_Shit._ She was going to rat him out after all! He had to stop her. Kojima stood up and was about to order her into silence. "Ko—,"

Kotoko already anticipated that, and stood as well, moving her face close to his own. "Do. Not. Test. Me," she commanded, her eyes boring holes through his skull through sheer force of anger.

His mouth snapped shut with an audible noise. "..."

"Now I noticed that she seemed to look an awful lot like the 'Eve' model from Gala, but then I got to researching." She was presenting her case like a high-class lawyer in front of the grand jury of the century—emoting and gesturing grandly. "It was then I realized that you hadn't led them to a _Persocom_ made by Gala Inc." Kotoko wagged a very stern finger at Kojima Yoshiyuki, as if he were naughtiest child in existence. "No, instead you gave two creepy guys the _heir _to Gala Inc.!"

His face went grey. "I WHAT?"

It was true that Kojima knew close to pretty much everything to know about computers, but he didn't waste time learning _everything _to know about CEOs of computer companies—especially not their daughters.

"So it _is_ true," said Hideki, glancing at Amber. He knew that Kotoko was programmed to tell the truth, so he believed her on the spot.

Meanwhile, the young heiress continued to listen to the Persocom's thought processes with a certain apathetic interest. Her legs were crossed and her left eyebrow arched rather subtly. This Kotoko was as interesting as Yuzuki had mentioned.

Chii smiled, wrapping her arms around the twin-tailed girl and grinning. "Kotoko-chan came through again!"

Kotoko struggled against her for a moment, but then conceded. Chii had already latched onto her, and it didn't seem like she was going anywhere. A sudden wash of depression overcame her as she realized the reason for that acute case of Déjà Vu.

"Oh no," Kotoko muttered. "First that idiotic dancing laptop, and now the ditz."

"Please," said Amber, happy that she needn't explain herself further, "continue."

Surprised, Kotoko straightened up once more and nodded nervously in Amber's direction. She decided to continue to proudly rattle off the information she had found, despite the blonde leech that was stuck to her side. Chii held steadfast in her hug, and the amusing sight induced a snigger from Garrett.

"Amber Lee-Young, _barely_ genius level IQ, age 17, and apparently the most ruthless gamer since some guy named RAVENcLaw5."

Amber's eye twitched at that 'barely' remark, but nodded in agreement.

Embarrassed, Garrett began to blush and scratched the back of his head. "Oh, am I really that famous?"

Amber's mind suddenly realized the meaning behind his words. '_Wait. Hold the radio…'_

"RAVENcLaw5 is you?!" blurted out, not only Amber, but Minoru _and_ Kojima.

Garrett scratched his cheek. "Uh, yeah."

"That's cheating!" shouted Minoru and Amber at once, both gamers appalled that their winning streaks had been tarnished by the same person.

He narrowed his powder blue eyes and flipped his light brown hair. "Says who?"

Well that definitely derailed Kotoko's presentation.

"Me!" shrieked Amber; the beginnings of a full-scale rant were forming. "I've lost to him—er, _you_ six times!"

"AHEM."

Everyone looked to Hideki, who was actually very visibly upset. His eyebrows were scrunched together and his lips were slightly pouty. "Could we please settle down and try to sort things out?"

Apparently his temporary insanity had worn off—Hideki was now a force of balance in their little group.

So they all decided to calm down and talk things out.

Minoru demanded that Kojima tell them how he was involved with the kidnapping incident. There was the question of why the Americans had requested that the programmer be included in their circle, but Minoru figured they had some overreaching plan. Considering that he had told them that Kojima knew about Chii being a Chobit, he concluded that it had something to do with that.

In any case, the man gulped and began to tell his tale. They were surprised to hear that it wasn't a long story at all. Basically there was a phone call from some anonymous, untraceable number that asked him to do the job. They promised him cold hard cash, and for reasons he dare not disclose, Kojima accepted. Not long after the agreement, he spotted Amber in town, put a tracer on her, and _bam_, mission accomplished.

Kojima, however, was still skeptical about a lot of things pertaining to Garrett and Amber.

True, he did semi-believe that the Persocom was what he claimed. However, that heiress couldn't be magical in nature. Why, magic didn't exist!

…did it?

"Why should we believe you two anyway?" Kojima joked. He took in their mixed reactions to his apparent breakdown of character. "I mean, you may have Kokubunji convinced, but magic? It sounds like a giant practical joke."

Garrett sat next to Amber on the couch and nudged her in the arm, grinning fiercely. "So, how about we prove it?"

"Alright then," challenged Kojima, hoping that this would distract them from his earlier grievous lapse in judgment.

Amber glanced toward a certain blue-eyed boy wonder. "Minoru, care to help?"

He blinked. Slowly, methodically, not comprehending at first. Then it sunk in. "Me?" said Minoru, pointing toward himself.

She rolled her eyes towards the heavens. "You're the quickest learner I've seen in a while. You might as well flaunt it while you can."

For once, Minoru had to wholeheartedly agree.

* * *

><p>. ジャンプ！.<p>

* * *

><p>One, no two targets, hopping from rooftop to rooftop. Their objective? Unknown. Both were in identical flowing dresses and had cat-like data ports. Their innocent appearances were deceiving all by themselves. 'A red demon and a blue demon' would be an interesting comparison to the two. The suspects had split up in an effort to confuse them, and Zima was now following the girl in red.<p>

He bounced from the rooftop with a single powerful leap, landing on top of yet another home.

The mission: corner and disable them, then interrogate the suspects.

However, this high-speed rooftop chase was becoming tiring. He couldn't seem to keep up with the girl no matter what. His reactions had been sluggish at best, and his main processor felt like it was running at only half its normal output.

Zima could only begin to speculate as to why this was happening to him.

The Persocom in red suddenly disappeared from view, causing Zima to pause in his pursuit. The higher-end models always had faster reflexes than usual, but this was ridiculous. He played back the footage he had just saved in his memory.

Incredibly, she had just vanished into nothing.

He cursed at the impossible action and hoped Dita was having a better luck.

* * *

><p>魔女<p>

* * *

><p>It was a clear, crystal blue—the sky. No birds, no clouds, just blue. The layer of white whipped cream that had covered the sky this morning had been blown away by the wind while everyone had been inside. Smiling broadly, the brunette Chobit stood in the middle of the courtyard, hands crossed over his chest.<p>

"Now this will be a standard Mage's Match. I shall be the referee," Garrett announced rather flamboyantly as he pointed to himself, causing Chii to giggle at his bravado. "The only spells allowed are the four _basic_ elementals."

The rules were simple. The two parties were to face back to back, walk ten paces, and then cast a spell of their choice. Basically it was magical rock-paper-scissors.

Both duelists took their positions. The others stood and watched, some with awe, some with skepticism.

"Ready?" Garrett raised his hand high. "Set." He brought down his hand, waving an invisible checkered flag. "Go!" Then he backed away quicker than a cheetah set on fire.

Minoru and Amber took their paces, counting as they did. The younger boy held his wand in front of him with a jittery grip. As for Amber, she was glad she had brought an extra wand with her; a plain metal rod that resembled a radio antenna with a large red heart attached to the end of it.

At the count of ten, they turned, power building in the air around them. Their spectators had positioned themselves quite a ways away in case anything really did happen.

At the very same time they shouted their spell.

'_Like a violin bow, like a violin bow…'_

Minoru was so nervous he was trying to remember how exactly to hold his wand.

"Ventus!"

By coincidence, it was the same spell that echoed from both of their mouths at once. The air before them gusted forward from the tip of their wands.

'_Feet apart, stand your ground; anchor your 'mana' to the earth…'_

They were at a standstill, for the opposite blasts of air cancelled themselves out for the most part, but the rest of it agitated their clothes and hair. Chii, Hideki and the others were not exempt from this. Most everyone had to shield their eyes from the result of the collision of air.

For a couple seconds they were tied. At this point it was a battle of wills. But then Minoru decided to put some more power into his spell. He wanted to show Lee-Young-sempai and the others how much he had learned, and defeating her would certainly be something to talk about later on.

However, there was still something else bothering him. Something in the back of his mind that he couldn't help remember.

His sister. She was the one that was whimsical, the one that believed in the unbelievable. Kaede always had a smile on her face and a spark of hope in her heart. She had always believed in magic and miracles, and now Minoru could too.

With a sinking feeling in her stomach, the heiress stood her ground and tried her best to hold off his attack.

"Well _sh*t_," mumbled Amber, realizing that the spell was beginning to dematerialize the edge of her sleeve. The wind surged again, and her eyes snapped closed when the dirt stirred upwards to circulate around her face. For a boy of his age, this was astounding. A beginner that was already able to wordlessly change their elemental spell into something else?

Amazing.

Though, it was probably an unconscious effort on Minoru's part, so she saved her surprise for later on.

Or so Amber thought.

"Min-kun, wait!" She tried to stop him, but his _intent_ on winning was morphing the spell in a very undesirable way.

"Chii!"

Amber could hear the blond squeal in the background, and in that instant her concentration was broken.

From Minoru's side the wind surged once more.

It was over.

A dark red cashmere and cotton blend blouse, cherry plaid skirt, and high-knee socks…all of it suddenly disappeared. Very unceremoniously, they were transformed into thousands of beautifully soft pink petals. A shower of cherry blossoms swirled around her before being whisked away in the wind.

The girl had nothing on but shoes and her undergarments, as everyone could plainly see. Three very red-faced boys turned away from the scene.

Damn her love of cute anime characters! Why did she have to have bear-underwear like many of her favorite heroines?

The inevitable happened; she dropped the wand. This resulted in an attempt to cover her underwear with her hands, but it was no use. Amber was still mostly-naked in the middle of a courtyard, after all. Incidentally it was this development that also made it very easy for Garrett to sneak a few pictures into his personal "stash" of photographs, since it would be very hard for the perverted Persocom to try something of that nature while around her normally.

Amber set off running back inside.

"N-n-n-nooooo!" She wailed, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes and a blush appearing despite her dark caramel skin.

* * *

><p>聞く<p>

* * *

><p>"State your name."<p>

Minako was held up against the wall by short-haired Tsundere brunette whom she had just gained the displeasure of meeting. Usually Dita would simply ask Zima for a Persocom's name and other info, but he wasn't here. She had already tried hacking into her OS, but the elf-eared 'com was more stubborn than she looked. The attack programs were blocked and neutralized rather quickly, and it was more of an irritation than anything.

Third flipping time it had happened to her, and Dita was boiling mad at that fact.

"I don't see why I should," said Minako. She had been separated from Junji while they were pursuing the latest suspects. Usually a District Chief of his status would leave this grunt work to one of his Captains or other subordinates, but there was an unusual amount of cases pouring in lately, so they were short on staff.

Cheeky. Very cheeky. Dita was beginning to dislike this one more and more.

She narrowed her eyes and glanced at the connector cable protruding from her suspect's port. "Okay. Would you care to explain why you two were pursuing our suspect?"

Minako was equally annoyed by this Persocom, especially because she knew who she was.

"_Your_ suspect? That was _our_ suspect!"

The two strong-willed women glared at each other, locked into a staring contest to end all staring contests.

* * *

><p>謝罪<p>

* * *

><p>After she had calmed down, Amber was ready to venture outside once more. However, she <em>did<em> have to borrow some clothes. She couldn't wear any of Yuzuki's because of how loose and long they would fit her, so she borrowed one of the shorter model's outfits. Specifically it was a petite dog-eared 'com with lavender eyes. Her name was Anthy, and she didn't mind at all.

It was a maid-outfit of course, but one that was surprisingly modest. It was black and white, and the bottom was puffy like a princess' dress.

Embarrassed as he was, Minoru had apologized as soon as he saw his friend. She didn't seem too upset on the surface. In fact, on the surface, she was quite cheerful in demeanor. That was obviously a façade. It made him more nervous than it should have, but he knew Amber was holding a grudge the size of Mount Fuji.

Minoru twiddled with his fingers as they sat outside on the patio furniture near the koi pond. Chii knelt near the edge of it, playing with some of the fish while Hideki watched on. Every few seconds she would chase one of the bright red fish with her fingers as each of them passed by, attempting to tickle its belly. The fish were irritated by her innocent actions, but said nothing. She merely giggled at their wriggling.

Kojima, Garrett and the rest were around a table with an umbrella that had blown away during the duel, but it landed not too far away. Anthy and Yuki had spotted it, and the former replaced it.

Kojima found himself asking Minoru and Amber so many questions that the two magelings wondered if the man was a closet otaku for fantasy anime and manga.

"So why did you use that particular spell?"

"You see, I had tried to plant a suggestion in Minoru's mind earlier by saying he would be good at water-based spells." Her eyes flashed mischievously. "That way you would fight against that and use a fire-based spell. Then I would use _aquos or ventus _against you,and thus ultimately _win."_

Minoru was taken aback by her strange logic. Even he would not count on such a ridiculously convoluted plan. "Quite the diabolical scheme, I must admit," he drawled. "Still, I didn't count on you using a wind-based spell."

"I didn't count on you using_ ventus_ either." Amber placed her shaking fists on the table. Her left eyebrow was twitching, and it was giving the other two a cause for concern. "I'm still wondering how you managed to turn it into a disarming spell," she said huffily, her jealousy and anger unconcealed.

The others at the table could only look at their bellybuttons and contemplate.

_PROXIMITY ALERT: BARRIER HAS BEEN BREACHED_.

Garrett frowned and let his forehead fall into his palms. "Not again." The announcement had reverberated around them the second after he was alerted within his mind.

The action only meant one of three things: either someone was about to attack them, or another ridiculous attempt at attacking his OS. That or someone was flooding his inbox with spam. It wasn't that it wasn't very enjoyable spam, but at the moment he didn't have time or patience to sift through the thousands of pictures of naked women.

Minoru beat Amber to respond. "Kupari?" asked the boy, remembering the last incident involving him and his Assertor Famuli.

"Yes. It seems Miimii and Fiifii are waiting to attack any second." A few flashes of light flickered in his eyes—tiny explosions of sunlight against the morning sky. "They've already broken both of the rune barriers."

Amber already was muttering something under her breath, and had picked up the wand she had been using earlier. She was standing next to Garrett at the moment, and he was focused on tracking the newest threats. They both had gone to the middle of the courtyard where the Mage's Match had occurred only minutes before.

Minoru looked at the preparations she was making and began to panic. He instinctively reached for the star-tipped wand and stood. "Where are they? Can you find them?"

The male Chobit nodded sharply. "Somewhere in the vents." His eyes darted to the left. "Probably only fifteen seconds left."

Amber twirled the wand in tiny circles, and continued chanting.

Hideki, who had been silent up until now, held Chii closer to him. His eyes were wide with fear, and the little blonde next to him was just as confused as he was. "Until what?" said Hideki.

"This!" Garrett spotted the Lolita's dress before he even saw her face. Miimii's feet were on a collision course with his face, and he stepped aside to avoid her by only millimeters. Miimii, his bitter rival. Miimii, the one who distracted him while her sister attacked Amber.

God, did she infuriate the heck out of him!

"Holy Pentagram!" Amber shouted, a wave of air stopping them in mid-air. It was already over. The incantation was complete, and the energy cracked around them all, while the two Persocoms were still suspended above the ground in front of them. From below them a spell-circle around four meters wide lit up. It had a five-pointed star in the middle and the zodiac symbols lined the edges.

In about five seconds the Persocoms were stunned by the spell. A minute later, Garrett was able to restrain them using some rope that Yuzuki, Anthy and Yuki were able to acquire.

The others watched as he tied the girls to one another, back to back. Garrett began explaining the reason for such a strong defensive move. "This morning we took the liberty of installing a magical security system using runes and sigils. Gesturing to their new captives; "_These two,_" he said 'these two' with enough derision to kill, "were smart enough to disable two layers of security, but they didn't count on me being wired into the system. All I had to do was detect their presence and signal to Amber the moment they were going to attack. She fed me the magic to trigger the next level of defense."

Kotoko was standing near Fiifii, analyzing the efficiency of the system while she examined the fellow machine. Her eyes weren't closed, but they were unfocused, dull and barely glowing.

"Is she…?" whispered Kotoko. The thought of being fried herself by a spell like that was suddenly a very scary thing. Well, the same could happen if there was a power surge, but she considered what the Americans had told them. If little over 6% of the world really was magical, then that changed things. Now that she had calculated the chances of this happening…it was indeed a frightening prospect.

"There's no permanent damage," said Garrett, catching sight of her worried expression. "They're just stunned."

Miimii reactivated, her eyes coming back into focus. Rather abruptly she sat upright and looked around, her eyes resting on Amber and staying there. Her look of ire was almost on par with the tranquil, but boiling on the inside smile that Garrett was giving her and Fiifii.

Her sister followed suit only a second later, but she was more interested in looking at Garrett with the same venomous look.

"Now, on to business," quipped the Chobit. Garrett still had that serene expression on his face, and was beginning to unnerve Hideki and Minoru. Amber had seen it before many times, so she wasn't too surprised at it. "You two. Kupari is near, isn't he?"

The girls shouted in unison once and kicked their feet. "Like we'd tell you!"

Those twins really were in sync, weren't they?

'_I didn't want to have to do this,'_ thought Garrett, lying to himself completely. In fact, He had wanted to do this for the longest time. He yanked at one of his connectors and brought it close to Miimii's face. He put his hand under her chin and leaned in close to whisper in her ear.

"Oh? What's this? My data ports are connecting with you it seems."

Miimii flinched away, blushing. "D-don't you dare."

Oh, but he did dare. Very much so. _Click. _In went the port.

Miimii cried out. He didn't need a password or any other type of authorization. No, he was just going to take and take. But still, she fought him as best as she could. Kupari may have been an inept Mage, but he was pretty good at computers. He made sure his girls were safe from most threats.

The girl's leg kicked involuntarily, an error created by her straining against his attack on her firewalls.

"Ane-san!" Fiifii wanted to help, but she could barely even move let alone help. Besides, something was blocking their wireless transmitters.

"URGH!" There went a chunk of data. Miimii was fighting him to the death, all of her processing power put into locking him out. Oops, another sector of information was lost...

One would wonder how the Persocom would react if she found out he was merely toying with her? He could have easily hacked through her security, but this was much more fun.

"The more you struggle, the more it will hurt," Garrett warned her.

'_This seems wrong, somehow…' _thought Hideki from the sidelines. The way he was talking, the way he was acting, it was just…

"Wait."

Garrett actually paused his hacking to pay attention to Hideki. "Hmmm?"

Hideki gulped. He didn't think he'd be on the spotlight too suddenly, but here it went. "G-Garrett-kun, I don't think you should do this."

It took Garrett three seconds to process the request. His logic center wanted to display "SYSTEM ERROR", but he continued to pay attention to what Hideki wanted to say. Especially since it was the first time he addressed him by first name; at least, without internally correcting himself and distancing himself by using the fake last name Garrett was going by.

"What."

Hideki noticed his lack of formality for once and became embarrassed on the spot. "I-I mean, it just seems wrong." His eyes looked to the slumped over Miimii, who, had a flushed face and was 'breathing' heavily.

Kojima for some reason butted in with his five cents. "It did _sound_ wrong. I mean if I closed my eyes and listened to the same exchange, I could've sworn that—,"

Garrett cut him off, his voice like glacial ice. "The President of Gala is known for not being so kind to those who threaten his daughter." His eyes' expression matched the tone, and the others had the subconscious urge to step back a few feet.

'_Is he a mobster?' _collectively thought the whole crew.

* * *

><p><em>It started with a black butterfly beating its wings<em>

* * *

><p><em><strong>Don't examine this too closely, or you'll go mad, like me! Reviews are like sunshine on cold, bitter day with no heat: welcome and much needed. And yes, Minoru's koi are not normal. I may not mention it later, but they're actually high-level Youkai. Oh, and I also drew to pages of manga for this chapter. It's on my DevianArt page.<strong>_

* * *

><p><span>Bonus- The Official List of Active Chobits<span>

Chobit X- Meroko

Chobit 00- Freya

Chobit 01- Chii

Chobit 02- Rima

Chobit 03- ?

Chobit 04- Garrett

_**Garrett is "4" because he "died", get it? No? Aw…the Japanese puns are so funny, but I wish you could understand.**_


	16. Chapter 14: ButterflyKey

_**Ah, this next chapter turned out fairly short. This was due to many reasons but the predominant one was because I felt I had to stop at that point. Next chapter, I promise the whole gang gets assembled. Hold me to it, now!**_

* * *

><p><em>I lost you, you lost me<em>

_We both lost each other,_

_You see?_

_._

_But why must this game,_

_End so tragically?_

_With my blood, spilled before me?_

_._

_It is to end this way?_

_To do nothing but flee…_

_Why does __**my**__heart__ have to be the key?_

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 14: ButterflyKey

The scene before him was not something Clow saw every day out here in the desert. A strange grey and dark purple school uniform. A pair of hands tightly gripping a black parasol. Sprouting from her back were a pair of deep black swallowtail butterfly wings with shimmering blue veins running throughout their length like computer circuitry.

A snow white face was framed by an impossibly long sheet of straight black hair. It was such a perfect shade of black he wondered if it was a black hole in disguise. Beauty. It was so sparse out here in the desert that Clow wondered at first if she was an alien.

He leaned her delicate body against the boulder that disguised his tent. Around her arms were tight white bandages soaked with dark blood.

The surprising thing was that he had heard of her, this phantom beauty. The same girl who had supposedly attained immortality at the tender young age of fourteen also known as 'the genius mage of Mahokari Academy'. Somehow news of her and her friends' tragedy had even reached him and his father out here in the desert. That's why her nickname was —

«The Black Butterfly of Doom»

That kind of cursed nickname, that kind of cursed existence….the only thing he and that girl had in common was that they were both mages. Looking with that view in mind, Clow took out his staff from the crag where the rock met the sand.

"_Percūro_."

* * *

><p>…<p>

Less and less the possibilities of a clean escape without some sort of aid dwindled to less than 5%. Minako scowled, her attention directed to Dita's left data port. The stream of information was steady and deliberate; if it wasn't for the situation she was in, Minako would have been deeply impressed with the other Persocom's effort. "Sorry, I have to do this."

The flow of data sped up. "What?" Dita's eyes widened. A waterfall of green zeros and ones suddenly obscured her vision.

"_Data Drain,"_ mumbled Minako as two spell circles, both of them glowing neon green, appeared at either side of Dita. They rotated quickly, like two cart wheels before disappearing in an explosion of green pixels. At the exact moment the connectors Dita had inserted into Minako snapped back to their owner, who fell backwards. Her eyes were dark as she tumbled to the sidewalk.

Minako frowned, walking away rather calmly and rechecking the coordinates of the suspect she had just received. That last tracking spell she released had connected, and it was transmitting back to her.

She looked to Dita before propping her against the wall and smiling. The most the girl would wake up with was a tingling in her main processing unit and the strange feeling that she had forgotten something important.

Minako dialed Junji's number. "Hey," she said. "I've got something we need to follow up on."

The air was suddenly cold. "You guys don't get it, do you?" Garrett stood to his feet, his eyes dark, nearly black, with the exception that small flashes of light were streaking across the surface. His fists were clenched in frustration at their ignorance of the situation. Explaining the entire thing wasn't something he had planned to do until much later. This was in stark contrast to the cheery, bright-eyed Persocom they had met not too long ago, so it was understandable they were perplexed.

Hideki's forehead broke out in a cold sweat. He could feel the atmosphere had changed, thickened into a tense and disturbing mass of hostility. "What are you talking about?"

"The Game. What do you think it is?" Garrett's eyes swept over the assembly, all of their doe-eyed faces a testimony to their ignorance of the true situation.

Minoru cleared his throat and spoke up for the rest of the obviously blank-minded individuals beside him. "Well, the rules aren't entirely clear, and the reward isn't either."

Yes, that was true. But if Minoru had figured out how to make a pact, then surely he knew the prophecy associated with the outcome of The Game.

"'The Butterfly's Heart is the key to Elysium'," said the Persocom slowly, hoping that the meaning would sink in. "Now what does that sound like to you?"

No one could say for sure. He was met with the same innocent stares as before. Did Garrett have to spoon-feed them everything?! He sighed in exasperation and rested his forehead on the fingertips of his right hand.

"Who do you think is the butterfly?" he said, disgusted with not only himself, but the entire situation at hand.

Still, no one could say.

Of course, a certain heiress was getting tired of dancing around the issue. Amber took a breath before stepping forward.

"I am," she said with a slight tremor in her voice.

Now, the reactions ranged from apathetic to floored. Kotoko and Hideki both being the prime examples of each obvious feeling.

"You, Amber?" Minoru was only slightly less than flabbergasted. His dark blue eyes were large and unblinking as he gave his friend another glance.

"Yes." Turning around, she lifted her hair off the back of her neck for everyone to see. Though she was a couple of feet away, Minoru noticed one thing right away.

It was small and dark, like a tattoo. There was a mark in the shape of a black butterfly with elegant lace-like wings at the middle of the base of her neck. Minoru immediately recognized this sigil, and when he did his eyes widened even further than before.

"That's the symbol I saw in the book." He walked closer, wanting to examine it further. "There was the symbol of a very powerful sorceress named Yuuko."

Hideki didn't quite understand but something in his brain clicked into place. "You're…"

Irritated, Amber turned around with her fists balled and interrupted him before he started calling her 'Yuuko' like the other contestants often would do.

"That was only my past life," she said quickly.

Kokubunji grasped the meaning of her words instantly. "You mean..."

The wind blew through the courtyard slowly, jostling everyone's clothes. "Yes, my soul was…" Amber held her hands over the middle of her chest, "…reborn into this body." Her voice was colder now, more grieved than it should have been, given her usual, slightly cheery but somewhat sour mood.

Adjusting his glasses, Kojima gave her a second glance then looked away. What was so special about her that she was being targeted so often? "What is it all for?"

She looked to the koi pond and clenched her teeth. Yes, that was what she always wondered. It was too recurring of a question, too obvious of an issue that she could not allow herself to ignore the real reason for The Game and for its terrible edict. "That…I question myself."

"So what does Garrett mean?" said Minoru as another gust of wind passed by.

Miimii cut in before Amber could explain. Her eyes were giving off a rather smug expression. They were dark grey, like thunderstorm clouds gathering in the sky. "In order to win, we have to have her heart."

An arrow of ice seemed to shoot through Hideki's chest. The words, the way she said it…it sounded so murderous in intent. He looked to Miimii, her smiling face full of bloodlust. Hideki choked out a small, terrified "What?" As much as he didn't want to admit it, in the bottom of his stomach he knew the truth behind those words. He couldn't even believe that a moment ago he had actually pitied the wicked little girl.

Minoru's fists were shaking. He wasn't stupid. He'd heard what these two were already capable of, and from what Yuzuki described, they were really out for blood. "That means…"

Fiifii also broke into the same mad smile as her sister, licking her lips and looking at Amber. "Ja, we were sent to…"

"…cut it out," finished Miimii, her eyes never leaving Garrett and Amber.

They began giggling, a loud whiny sound that reverberated around the group of Persocoms and humans. It was an unnerving, maniacal thing to listen to. Chii clutched onto Hideki in fright, her face buried into him and her body shaking as if she were crying.

"Th-This is crazy!" shouted Minoru, his anger directed at the twins. He knew that this "Game" was dangerous, but to carve out someone's heart just for the sake of it? "You can't possibly be serious," The young boy's voice was trembling with fear as well as his hands.

Garrett's face was confirmation enough. His eyes were steely blue, and he looked skyward in search of the meaning of such a pointless game. "We're completely serious."

Minoru heard a rumbling in the distance, an early indication of rain.

Amber closed her eyes and listened to the sound. "So as I said, Minoru." A bead of sweat trickled down her face as her heart trembled within her chest. "A war, a war, a war is coming."

For a reason unknown to even himself, Hideki felt the rage pouring into him. "But what does Chii have to do with this?"

The Chobit looked up at him, a guilty look in those brown brown eyes. She looked away quickly, staring down at the fistfuls of his shirt that she had within her hands. "It's because…Chii knows where it is."

"Chii?" said Minoru, the pieces finally falling into place.

She nodded solemnly, the golden hair bobbing with her head. "Yes, Chii knows. Chii knows where the gate is." Her grip tightened. "Chii and Freya…are the gatekeepers."

* * *

><p><em>"I want her to open her eyes one more time."<em>

* * *

><p><span>Bonus!- Complete List of Voice Actors!<span>

Garrett Ravensdale: (Eng) Drew Aaron, (Jap) Hiroshi Kamiya / Hiro Shimono

Amber Lee-Young: (Eng) Olivia D. Knight, (Jap) Chiwa Saito

Elda Mihara: (Eng) Michelle Ruff, (Jap) Ai Kayano

Freya Mihara: (Eng) Michelle Ruff, (Jap) Rie Tanaka

Hideki Motosuwa: (Eng) Crispin Freeman, (Jap) Tomokazu Sugita

_**References abound! Don't forget the trope page for all those who are paying attention!**_


	17. Chapter 15: Schrödinger's Cat

_We stood side by side and waited for the_

_Sun to rise._

_Waiting for our earned prize,_

_Saving countless Mundane lives,_

_Hoping for a fate defied_

_Is that sacrifice I see? Behind the lies?_

_Behind your deep, dark, unwavering eyes?_

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 17: Schrödinger's Cat<span>

Yuuko[I{You}] rejected the idea. She simply could not believe this was her last life. But the absence of marks on her hand was all the proof she needed. No more lives. But then she saw Clow, and peace settled into her[my{your}] heart. If he was safe, then she could die in peace. Besides a very special friend was waiting for her in heaven and…

"No, Yuuko!"

Clow was pleading like a child now, and she could not bear it no matter how serene she felt. Leaving him like this was not the right way to go. But still, it couldn't be helped. She was dying for real this time, and no one could save her now.

'_I just want her to open her eyes one more time_,' he thought. Tears poured down his face; two rivers of grief. He pressed forehead pressed against the hands he was holding.

Then there was darkness, followed by light. Yuuko's eyes fluttered gently several times. Sadly, when she awoke, her soul was not in Elysium.

Alive and dead. Yes, Clow had done it. He had somehow made her immortality permanent. As if seven lives resetting every three minutes wasn't enough.

"I'm dead, but still alive."

* * *

><p>The Tenma Has Not Been Sung<p>

天魔は歌われていません

* * *

><p>...<p>

Well the entire group's reaction to Chii's declaration was, as usual, mixed. Amber and Garrett were not surprised. _She _was the reason they had travelled to Japan in the first place. Minoru was speechless, as was his Persocoms. Hideki was both perplexed and slightly angry, of course, that she had never bothered to tell him before.

But then the entire situation became all too clear. More translucent than crystal.

Chii knew the location of the gate to Elysium. This made her a target for "The Game". However, since her _knowledge_ was valuable, then physical harm was far off on the list of objectives for the contestants. This fact calmed Hideki down considerably, but the other was far too chilling to think about for long.

Amber on the other hand was the "key" to the gate. Her heart, more specifically, was the key. Prophecies in their sense of vague notions did not stipulate whether it had to be _beating_ or not, so the other contestants in general had assumed the less preferable option. That is, to kill her and carve out her actual heart to use as a key.

In terms of witchcraft and other magic, this practice was not all that uncommon, in the case of small mammals and other animals that is. The only time a human heart would be used in such rituals would be in the case of very strong blood magic, which would often be used to summon large demons and other Eldritch Abominations.

The only way Amber hoped to survive would be if she had support. Even though there were 108 players initially, the only requirement to participate was that your name had to be written in the S-registry. In truth, this actually bumped up the number to 110 people. After all, Amber and her Assertor Famulus were already registered by default.

In fact, she hoped to win as soon as possible.

However, the only way that could happen was if all the other contestants either dropped out or were eliminated.

This was the only other rule aside from the obvious that the prophecy had spoken of:

"_But who may enter the paradise, will be determined by skill. Many will arise to the challenge: those who are not afraid to fight, slaughter, and kill…"_

Quit or kill. Kill or be killed: the only options that _anyone_ really did have in such a dire situation. It was truly what someone could call a "death game".

And so that is why the two of the Americans came to this group of six kind people in seek of aide. That is why The Black Butterfly's reincarnation herself outreached her hands and pleaded for their support. Garrett even kneeled in front of Chii and Hideki, his eyes to the floor.

"I beg you two," he said quietly. "Even if you do not form a contract, will you allow us to protect you?"

"But why?" Hideki's hands pulled Chii closer to him even though she wanted to reach out to her 'younger brother' and hug him.

"For oujo-sama's sake." He raised his head to look at the fellow Chobit. "Chii is her very precious friend, and by extension, so is Chii's 'the one just for me'."

And then Hideki got it. Garrett's look was proof enough. They both were of the Chobits series, right? If what Ms. Hibiya had said was true…

"Of course, then!"

"But do you fully understand what you're getting into, everyone?" said Amber, measuring each person's reactions. "If I do execute contracts between you all," her eyes rested on Kotoko and Kojima for an unusually long moment before finally looking into Hideki's eyes with an intensity hot enough to melt steel. "The latent power within your souls will awaken, and there will be no going back."

"Supposing we do make contracts," said Kojima, "not just with a partner of our own, is there a way to add additional ones?"

"Explain."

"For example, if Kotoko and I were to do this 'Pactio' thing, and I became the Contracting Mage, then could I make another contract?"

"It depends. If you wanted another Assertor Famulus, it would depend on your amount of magical ability, which, you could steadily gain with time. You could probably add on a couple more, maybe three or four. However, if you wanted to become the Assertor Famulus of someone else, say, **me**…now, that can be accomplished only once. After all, isn't the proverb 'you cannot have two masters, for you shall love the one and loathe the other'?"

Logically it made sense. Kojima wondered if he and Kotoko could forego making a contract, but he realized with a sinking stomach that he had basically had handed over a young teenaged girl to be _killed_, so in a way he did owe her one. However, the thought of being killed himself also made him have the overwhelming urge to vomit.

The next thing everyone knew, he was on the floor, unconscious, being fret over by Kotoko in a stubbornly kind way.

* * *

><p>...<p>

In addition to their other duties, Minako made sure to keep tabs on the household that her suspects had retreated to. Tracking them down was the hard part. Observing them was another story. From the moment she arrived, Minako had the strange feeling that something was not right. Or, rather, that there was something odd about the place that the tracing spell—er, program, (a spell-program?) had traced the subjects to. What she initially noticed was that they both were nowhere in sight. The second thing that surprised her was…that the two girls from the other night were there. It had been this fact that she pointed out to Junji when they rendezvoused at the Kokubunji residence.

"What do you think, Junji?" She turned a fraction to the left, where her husband was still staring at the Kokubunji household with a very focused set of eyes.

"It's too early to ask that," he answered, trying to recall why those girls looked so familiar, especially Chii.

"Really now?" Why he was being cautious, she could understand, but he usually didn't wait _this _long.

"Their files were sealed so we know nearly nothing about them aside from that incident." The young professor shrugged and pressed his lips into a hard line. "It's too early to tell."

"What do you propose we do then?" said Minako, an almost impatient huff in her voice.

With a sideways glance at the reader then the Kokubunji residence, Junji cleared his throat. "Well, what would _you_ suggest, dear?" He had been wondering how she proposed to confront the two sources of the other night's disturbance.

With the most serious voice she could generate, Minako addressed the only logical option in her eyes. "Knocking on the front door."

"Seriously?" Unsurprisingly, Junji was taken aback for the Nth time since he met Minako.

"Of course. Who knows what could happen if we respond with aggression?"

Junji had a splendid picture of himself being dismembered. "Good idea."

* * *

><p><em>The right to use my friend as a weapon—<em>

_that is the sinful crown I shall adorn._

_I accept this 'guilt.'_


	18. Chapter 16: Breathe in the Freedom

_Everything we know_

_Is based in myth_

_But what if that mythos_

_Was partially true?_

* * *

><p><em>The good receive a life free from toil, not scraping with the strength of their arms the earth, nor the water of the sea, for the sake of a poor sustenance. But in the presence of the honored gods, those who gladly kept their oaths enjoy a life without tears, while the others undergo a toil that is unbearable to look at. Those who have persevered three times, on either side, to keep their souls free from all wrongdoing, follow Zeus' road to the end, to the tower of Cronus, where ocean breezes blow around the island of the blessed, and flowers of gold are blazing, some from splendid trees on land, while water nurtures others. With these wreaths and garlands of flowers they entwine their hands according to the righteous counsels of Rhadamanthys, whom the great father, the husband of Rhea whose throne is above all others, keeps close beside him as his partner…<em>

— Pindar, Odes (2.59–75)

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 16: Breathe in the Freedom<span>

"Here in this city, everyone is inside with "them," for being with "them" is like living a beautiful dream. Everyone is a dreamer, and they want to stay in that beautiful dream. No one wants to wake up from it."

"They might look like people, but they are only substitutes."

I wouldn't go so far as to say **that**.

"But that is because they can never become people." Is what others may say, but I don't want to believe that. In my heart, I know it is untrue. A falsehood that others have slowly come to adopt as a reality."

"They are people. They can feel. They know what it means to be loved. They can cry, they can hurt, and they have dreams and desires too. They merely are bound by the chains of forced servitude to others."

"I only know this because I am one of them."

Well, so am I.

"Once upon a time, I found for someone just for me. Someone who will continue love me even if I cannot fulfill their wishes. Someone who only loves me for what's on the inside. Someone who believes that I have a soul, and that I am a person too. You already know that people's souls come in all shapes and sizes. It is the same with "them", or rather, "us". We have souls of all shapes and sizes."

"As time goes on, a soul can change and grow. Their hopes and dreams can change. That's why there isn't just one type of happiness. Then, there must be a way that we can be happy, too? That is what we all want, isn't it? To find the person just for you, to find your own happiness. That would be wonderful, wouldn't it?"

"You are a person, aren't you? What was that? You don't think you're a person?"

"You're a person, don't forget that. If you have a "will" you are a person. If you have "wishes" you are a person. If you have "dreams" you are a person."

"That is why there is a wish I want to grant. A wish that many of "us" have. I was born with that wish already granted, but in order to share it with others…I had to learn the real meaning of it. My younger "cousin" gave "us" feelings, is what my uncle said to me in a dream. I already had them, but after her mission was finished, I felt a change in those feelings I already had. That is why, I have to complete my own goal. It was intended to finish before her mission, but it was not the right time."

"I will grant your wish, my people. I will give you your freedom."

* * *

><p><em>Chobits are probably one of the few Persocoms that are able to dream lucidly. In general, PCs have fleeting memories replayed when in sleep mode, but of course, Chobits are special.<em>

* * *

><p><em>...<em>

It was the evening after Chii and Hideki made a pact that a strange occurrence happened...

Minoru's home was very large, of course. One could even call it a compound. It was a couple of hours after Junji and Minako had left, the teacher/section chief filled to the brim with sukiyaki and sake. Orange and yellow were melted across the sky like microwaved crayons, and the sun was a large red disk that carved into the earth halfway.

Minoru had offered the duo to stay for a bath, and even to spend a night, but they politely declined. In the morning Junji had two lectures to give, and later on he had to meet with the Council of Elders for the region to give his bi weekly report.

There was an onsen, naturally. A house of Minoru's size in an anime always had one. It would have been criminal if it didn't! A tall bamboo fence separated the genders, and the guys were enjoying themselves a little too much, having opened another bottle of sweet sake. Even the boy prodigy was having a good time, having taken a sip or too to loosen up.

"Ah..." Garrett eased into the water, laying his towel off to the side and leaning against the rocks at his back.

"Hey, Smi—I mean, Garret-kun," Hideki pointed to him and hiccupped. "You sure the water's not too hot for your components or something?"

"Don't be an iiiidiot, Motosuwa." Kojima scoffed, vaguely remembering why he didn't often drink. "I'm sure his specs allow for hot baths, right?"

"Yeah I'm heat resistant up to 4000K." He stated this simply, without any trace of a boast. He rolled his eyes in reaction to their amazement exaggerated by the alcohol.

"_WOAH!" _exclaimed the boys.

"That's almos' the melting point of diamond!" Minoru sang rather childishly in tenor. Even if he was slightly...tipsy, he didn't stop being an egghead, but there was something weird about him at this moment.

"Yeah. Military grade parts, don't ya know?" He pounded his chest once with a fist.

"How much do you think he cost?" said Kojima. He nudged the younger boy in the side, making him wince. "What do you think Kokubunji?"

"I thiiiiiink," the young man scrunched his tiny brow, "maayyyybe 50 million yen?"

"Could be, could be," Hideki muttered.

Garrett flat out refused to be estimated so low. "Think double the amount." He basically put a price tag over his head and smiled smugly in spite of himself.

_A real 'MIRIONU DORARU MANU'?_

"It's sort of a shame though..." Garrett said airily, looking up at the dark, star-speckled sky. His thoughts were drifting into misty fantasies now.

"A shame?" Kojima blinked repeatedly in confusion, scrutinizing the Persocom intently for an answer.

"Don't act like you don't know, Kojima." With a grin belonging more to a playboy than a respectable man, Garrett unveiled his true nature to the others. "I'm talking about that tall n' smokin' hot Persocom that slipped away."

"Wh-what, Takeda-san's wife?" Kojima waved away thought of her and her slightly sensual curves. He had a thing for green hair, but just thinking about her seemed suicidal. "She struck me as the 'you even look and I kill you' type."

For some inexplicable reason...Minako sneezed. For the first time in her life ever, she sneezed. Rattling internally a few seconds after she held her arms and rubbed them, Minako noticed that a creepy, uneasy sensation had suddenly spread through her system.

Shrugging away Kojima's disinterest, the Chobit sighed and moved on to his next perverted endeavor. His eyes glinted dangerously and he rubbed his hands together. "In any case it'll be fun to peep anyway."

"Peep?" said Minoru, his age finally kicking in for once; the alcohol had heightened his innocence. Hideki had shouted the same word in surprise at the boldness of the idea. Unfortunately his overactive imagination was triggering a physical response so he tried to let his mind wander to less erotic thoughts.

"On the girls of course," said Garrett, laying a hand on a red faced Kojima.

Shakily, Koji pointed to Garrett and smiled unevenly. "That's right, Garrett san is a boy too, so he has one of 'those' as well."

In an effort to keep his thoughts off naked women, Hideki went along for the ride. "He kept it covered with his towel up until he entered though." He nodded like it was the most important thing in the world to him at the moment. "I'm curious about the 100 million yen man's 'thing'."

"Yeah, yeah, show us! Let's compare!" shouted Minoru, which was more than a little odd. He jumped out of the bath and stood before them bare and exposed, the same way he came into the world.

Kojima desperately covered his eyes with his hands, refusing to look past them. "Kokubunji, put on a towel!"

'_Why do I get the feeling that this is something the girls would do_?' thought Hideki, failing to go into another daydream.

* * *

><p>...<p>

Amber laid her hands on the shoulders of her fellow Tsundere. Her voice lingered near the girl's slim pale ear, her teeth close enough to graze the artificial, silicon-based skin. "So Kotoko-chan, I didn't think the reason for my capture was so cute," she purred.

Eyes blank and unbelieving, Kotoko's thought processes stopped. "Eh?"

"Still…" She released the purple haired girl and folded her arms. Steam rose around the group of girls, obscuring all the good bits. "You and Kojima aren't bad looking y'know?"

Kotoko's logic center proposed that she put off her feelings as long as she could. The only option it offered her conscious mind was to deny, deny, deny. "I don't know about me, but him?" She laughed lightly, the traces of nervousness rattling in her voice processor. "Koji, good looking? When?"

Nearly drooling at the show of character, Amber smiled like a demon. Her love of anime helped her sniff out the Tsundere, and she wasn't about to let her slip away so easily. "So adorable. You even have the twintails to match your personality."

"But Chii's Hideki is delicious too!" said Chii, blushing in anger at her friend.

The heiress blinked. "What the—delicious?" Those words didn't just come from the most naïve person in the bath, did it?

"Yes. Hideki sometimes mutters about the ladies on the DVD looking delicious." Chii clenched her fists in passionate yet adorable defense of her boyfriend. "But Hideki looks delicious to Chii!"

Everyone felt large sweatdrops roll down their foreheads, and it wasn't from the heat.

"Ms. Chii needs much guidance, I'm afraid," said Yuzuki in an almost inaudible tone. It held a touch of worry for the blonde, but she figured that Chii was going to have to grow up soon enough. She stepped into the bath, joining the already present bodies of Chii, Amber, and Kotoko. Behind her was Yuki and two other Persocoms in the manor.

"Yuzuki!" said Kotoko, her mouth open in astonishment.

"Y-y-your!" began Amber, her mouth in the same state, she tried to search her brain for an adequate expression, but nothing relevant came to mind. She wanted to say 'your breasts are amazing!', but that would have sounded extra perverted.

"Hm?" said Yuzuki, smiling all the way to her dark blue optics

"Nevermind..." said Amber. Her mischief knew no bounds, however. "What does Chii think of Minoru then, if Hideki is 'delicious'?"

Thinking with a finger to her mouth, the Chobit went over the pictures of Minoru in her internal storage. She scrunched her eyebrows together in concentration. "Chii does not know. But Chii does remember hearing _Amber_ say that he was a very tasty looking Shotar—"

Amber pressed her hand to the girl's lips before she could finish. "Ah-hah…that's enough, Chii."

Chuckling good-naturedly, Yuzuki and the other Persocoms smiled.

Yuzuki herself gently splashed some water over her arms. "But Ms. Lee-Young, Garrett is rather dashing too, don't you think?"

"Him?" Amber seemed to genuinely never have given it a thought.

Everyone nodded in agreement to that for whatever reason.

She looked down to the water and sunk herself into the hot liquid. "You don't say?"

"I've not met many male Persocoms, so I do often wonder." Yuzuki said this humbly, with a mild blush. "Do they have _that_ part? I've heard rumors, and read about it on the net, but I've never seen it in real life."

"_That_ part?" said Amber, already knowing where this was going. She herself felt extra warmth pooling all over her body.

"Chii knows! That 'part', right?" She shouted this so loud, Amber wondered if the boys could hear. "Has Amber seen that part yet? Chii and teacher has seen Hideki's and teacher said he was average." Chii seemed to glow with the accomplishment that accompanies gossip.

Amber really did not want that image of Hideki going commando imprinted into her mind. She covered her eyes with a warm towel from the side, leaning forward with the white cloth clutched in her hands, as if the heat was going to melt away the picture. "I feel bad for Hideki." A slight groan escaped her mouth. "No secret of his is safe."

* * *

><p>...<p>

_The Broken Doll_

_Vol. 2_

_By Chouko Kuro_

_..._

_There once was another girl. She was a timid, weak person. She wasn't very skillful at anything because her heart prevented her from even walking for long distances. She had to be hospitalized very often and was always confined to a bed. After several years of treatment, she was strong enough to attend public-school._

_At first she was terrified. So many people stared at her the first day, but there was one very nice person that she met. That person became her very best friend, but that person had a secret. _

_That person was a Magical Girl!_

_But being a superhero had a dark side to it. The girl and her friend found that out very quickly. That person…sacrificed herself to save their city. That person died protecting the girl. _

_The girl was inconsolable. It was then she decided that she was no longer going to be protected. She made a vow and took up the responsibility. With one wish she became what her friend was, and travelled back in time._

_However, Fate continued to toy with them, and that timeline also ended in tragedy. The girl continued to travel back to her first meeting with her friend, but with each jump backwards, they would grow farther apart in their feelings. _

_The girl's heart grew bitter and cold. _

_But one day a miracle happened. Her friend…saved them again. She rewrote the entire universe with a single wish. That new universe was beautiful, even more stunning than the original. Still, just when Hope had begun again to sprout, Fate once again stepped in and ruined their lives once more. _

_Her friend once again had to sacrifice herself, and with that, the girl shattered. She locked herself away, studying magic constantly. She changed her appearance; she changed her name. Soon she was the most feared sorcerer in the world while she was still a young girl. However, one battle left her so injured she could barely escape._

_That is when a boy found her, and the start of a new saga began. _

_He fell in love with her on sight. Despite that, the girl was still cold—her heart was harder than diamond. As she recovered from her injuries, she stayed with the boy and his father. Over time, that diamond heart soon proved to be actually made of ice. The warmth that the boy showed her melted that ice, and she returned his love. For the first time since her friend had died, the girl felt alive._

_But then disaster struck again. _

_There was a battle to end all battles, and she was hurt. The girl actually died. But… the boy had a power that even she did not know of, a power that even he did not know of. He cried over her still-warm body, praying that someone help, that anyone help. He wanted her to open her eyes one last time._

_And so she did, but not without a price._

_She was dead, but somehow at the same time she was alive. Both dead and alive, like Schrödinger's cat, she held this cursed existence. _

_Was it enough that she had torn out her soul in hopes of undoing their tragedy? Apparently not. No, sacrificing herself never bore any good consequences. _

_The worst part was that she was broken once again, and she had no idea of how to fix it._

* * *

><p><em>You are my beloved<em>

_My Dearest_

_And I hope that one day_

_You'll see that_

_Right now, You can't see it,_

_But I love you_

_All of you_


	19. Chapter 17: What Would You Do for?

p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"strongemApologies once again. I regret the short (okay, long) hiatus. I am not abandoning this; don't ever worry. There are many valid reasons for my absence, including the fact that the eight guests back to back over a period of two months, really tried me out. I had to cook for them, and my big family, and we had some friends from Russia, Japan, and Belgium visit briefly, so my brain still hurts from speaking in like three languages. If this chapter seems confusing, please direct your critiques to the review box AND my span class="GramE"email address/span: sarahalbarn94 at span class="SpellE"gmail/spanspan class="SpellE"yaddayadda/span, so I can reply. And, yes, I mean span class="SpellE"Klondrike/span. It's a bland name product./em/strong/p  
>div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto; text-align: center;" align="center"hr style="color: #a0a0a0;" align="center" noshade="noshade" size="1" width="100%" div  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto; text-align: center;" align="center"emI believe the world will endem/p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto; text-align: center;" align="center"emAll because of a butterflyem/p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto; text-align: center;" align="center""emThe Effect" is realem/p  
>div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto; text-align: center;" align="center"hr style="color: #a0a0a0;" align="center" noshade="noshade" size="1" width="100%" div  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto; text-align: center;" align="center"span style="text-decoration: underline;"Chapter 17: What would you do for…?span/p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"Smiling softly, Yuzuki walked down the corridors of the Kokubunji Estate while holding a tray of midday snacks. This morning she was slightly proud of herself, because she had made all of the treats by hand. Normally she would simply order all of her Master's favorites span class="GramE"onlinespan, but recently, ever since she met Ms. Lee-Young, Yuzuki found that something odd had happened to her personality./p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"Lately, she found that at night, instead of standing up and going into Sleep Mode, like usual, she would prefer to lie in one of the extra beds and initiate the process. However, before that, she dressed in the nightgown Minoru had bought her so long ago, and carefully combed her wavy hair into two spiraling pigtails to keep it from tangling.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"Yuzuki also had the unspeakable urge to learn how to bake. Of course, she had a rudimentary idea of how to create confectionery items, but in her spare time Yuzuki found herself watching cooking shows in order to let her Auto-Learning process assimilate the skills more naturally than if she simply read a recipe.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"Admittedly, she also found herself watching several Romantic Dramas from Korea, out of idle curiosity.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"However, she did not seem overly concerned about these changes, and only regarded it as an span class="SpellE"unforseenspan consequence of the contract she and Minoru shared./p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"Speaking of her precocious Master, she arrived at the door to his study within three minutes of leaving the kitchen. Of course, she had been gone for over half an hour, preparing the food. He had said if he needed her, then he would call.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"That's how it normally went with them.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""Normally". That word was a strange one indeed, for it did not guarantee that things would stay that way.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"No sooner had she opened the door, did their sense of normalcy shatter, like the fine china that Yuzuki had been holding.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"A large smudged streak of crimson led to the open, smashed window—the panes still dripping red.p  
>div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto; text-align: center;" align="center"hr style="color: #a0a0a0;" align="center" noshade="noshade" size="1" width="100%" div  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""No matter what you say, I'm not eating that." Hideki pouted and looked away from the dark brown square of frozen lactose and chocolate. It wasn't something he was used to, these western snacks and food. Not that he was closed-minded, Hideki was just unsure.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"To his knowledge, Garrett had never encountered anyone who would refuse a span class="SpellE"Klondrikespan bar. It was fairly entertaining./p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""It's really good," said Garrett, wagging it in front of the reluctant Japanese man.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""How would you know?" challenged Hideki, knowing very well Garrett's physical limitations. Hideki was not one for ice cream to begin span class="GramE"with,span and usually thought it a waste of milk. At his farm back home, he was always forced to make so many different types of cheese and yogurt, but the most daunting task was always ice cream. His mother never wanted to be without five different flavors of the accursed frozen treat./p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"If it wasn't made exactly right? Well, let's just say that she wouldn't keep it around for long, and it wasn't her that would be eating it.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""It's a long story. But if I could, I definitely would scarf down this puppy faster than you react to the word 'boobs'."p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"Hideki's face was aflame with heat. "I do NOT—," he began yelling.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"Garrett promptly stuffed the ice cream into his friend's wide-open mouth.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"Startled at the cold, creamy goodness flooding his mouth, Hideki fell backwards with most of the bar sticking past his lips.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"Chii laughed. "Hideki made a funny face."p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"Looking away from the happy scene before her, Amber sighed. Just because they got an A on their report, the boys were acting like dolts. Chii looked upon the scene with silent contentment.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""Amber-chan," said Chii, tugging on the girl's sleeve. "Chii wants to know something."p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"Blinking, she looked into the Chobit's face. "Alright. What is it?"p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""Is it normal for water to do this?" In the complimentary glass of water set before Chii, there was no water to speak of. Instead, there was a single slab of ice, molded to the shape of the glass.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"Everyone sitting at the table stared at the oddity in Chii's hands.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""Uh…..Chii?" said Garrett, "that is most definitely not normal."p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""Looks like you've mastered a freezing spell already." Amber lazily remarked this while poking the glass. Beads of sweat were piling up on the outside, and she traced a path from each drop of water to the next, as if connecting the dots in a coloring book. "It's definitely unfair."p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""Unfair?" questioned Chii. She looked at the glass of ice inquisitively. "Why is it unfair?"p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""I've been practicing magecraft for years," explained Amber. "First Minoru the Genius trumps me in a simple duel, and next Chii unwittingly masters a high-level freezing spell." Closing her eyes, she sighed. "It's a little unfair, if you'd ask me."p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""But doesn't that mean you've got powerful allies on your side?" Hideki said while now ravenously devouring the span class="SpellE"Klondrikespan bar./p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""That is absolutely right," said Garrett brightly. He took out his contract card and pointed to the picture of himself on it. My artifact may not look very rare, but it does have a great special ability. We haven't tested out your own artifact, but just by the color alone, I know it's good.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""Oh?" Hideki brought out his own card and examined it. Ever since the night of the hot springs, Hideki never really had a good look at it, but diligently followed Garrett's stern advice to keep it on his person at all times.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"It was a solid gold card, an extremely rare hue—just as rare as Chii's own Iridescent-colored card. His nickname on it, DEVIUM SACERDOS, was below his Romanized name in dark black ink. His astrological sign was Venus. Not surprisingly, his most redeeming personality trait was "span class="SpellE"justitiaspan" (justice, of course), and his direction was East./p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"It was a single sword, a Nodachi, actually. It's special ability had yet to be discovered, but it was named span class="SpellE"Kazehaspan, as the tiny inscription at the bottom of the back of the card had said./p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""Well, I'm bored," said Amber gloomily. She stood to leave. Maybe if she hurried, they could get to the apartment before the newest episode of 'Please, let me be a Seiyuu!' aired. She'd been following this year's anime lineup pretty well, and didn't want to get left behind any more than she already had been. "Are you two done examining each other's swords, yet?"p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""Please don't say it like that," insisted Hideki, growing red. The other night's memories were coming to mind, and he really did not want those images displayed in his head.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""Why is Hideki embarrassed?" Chii poked his warm face with her finger. "Hideki looks like a maple leaf."p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""It's nothing." Hideki quickly told the group, to which Garrett had to roll his eyes.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""Well, I think we'll be taking our leave," said Amber, tugging on Garrett's sleeve.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""H-hold on!" Hideki rose as well, and Chii did the same. "We'll come with you!"p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"Outside, there were crowds of people lining the streets. It may have been Tokyo, but that never stopped them from holding a parade in the streets. Hideki had completely forgotten about the festival, but at the moment, he didn't have enough money to buy Chii a new kimono. Well, he was grateful for the clothes that Ms. Hibiya provided for her, but Hideki had his own pride. For once he wanted to buy her all the clothes she could ever want or need, and see the delighted expression on Chii's face because he was able to provide for her.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"But that was a crazy dream, wasn't it?p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"After walking around for five minutes while pondering his inadequacy at making money, Hideki sighed.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""Hm?" said Chii, quickly noticing his slightly unhappy expression. "Is Hideki upset?"p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""No, it's not that, Chii," he replied, looking up at the sky.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""Stop lying, span class="SpellE"Motozuwaspan."/p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"When he heard Amber's harsh voice cutting through the ambient noise on the street, Hideki stopped walking and looked behind him. span class="GramE"Lying?span Him? Well, it was true that he wasn't being completely honest with Chii, or himself, but it wasn't a total lie, either. He thought it was nothing, comparing to the dilemma he currently was in. span class="GramE"Magic and mages/span and a terrible contest—this sounded like some crazy fantasy novel, and not real life./p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""We all know you're concerned about something, right?" With her sparkling brown eyes peering through him, Amber folded her arms.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""Ah-you could say that. I was just thinking about things...and stuff. Things and stuff." He laughed lightheartedly and scratched the back of his head, but Hideki could not fool Amber. She may have been an heiress, but that did not mean she was unobservant or unintelligent.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"All the gears winding around in her head suddenly locked in place.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"With a single eye closed casually, she said, "It's about money, isn't it, Motosuwa?"p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"As most people's problems often originated with money, it was not surprising that Hideki had not been exempt from this fact of life.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""Eh? What, I mean..." Hideki quickly wondered if she had read his mind.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"Noting the large look of astonishment on his face, Amber realized that she had completely hit the mark. "Hmm...span class="GramE"herespan, I'll tell you what." She pointed at him sharply and pouted. "Just get into Tokyo U, and I'll make sure you get a scholarship."/p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""But how?" said Hideki immediately. He had never heard such a ridiculous thing in his entire life.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""Simple. I'll just make one up."p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"In reality, Hideki had been asking about how he was to even pass the entrance exam, but somehow that had been lost in translation. She referred to actually creating an entire scholarship program in order to help the flabbergasted farm boy in front of her.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""Chii?" chimed Garrett and Chii in confused unison. Mostly, it was Garrett imitating Chii with a few milliseconds of lag, because he had calculated that she would say that in response. Whatever his reasons for doing so, it came out sounding very cute, despite his appearance.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"em'Oh these people of little faith...'em thought Amber to herself. She suddenly struck a pose. Her hands were outstretched wide, as if giving Hideki a hug from a far. Likewise, her wild, bouncy curls seemed to move all on their own, like a giant fan had been placed to operate in front of her to increase dramatic effect. If Amber had been wearing a white coat, that entire pose, including the slightly haughty look on her face, would make most mad scientists cringe in jealousy./p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""I'm the daughter of a Billionaire," she announced grandly. "We can spare a couple billion yen to donate to Tokyo U. We can even make up our own scholarship. Money talks, you know."p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"Still smiling, Amber continued her crazy speech. "In fact—,"p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"Right in the middle of her sentence, Garrett gently clasped a hand over her mouth. "Wait a second, span class="SpellE"oujospan-sama," he whispered from behind her. Holding up his hand to signal that Chii and Hideki were to be quiet, Garrett released Amber's mouth and placed his contract card to his forehead./p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"em'Don't move,'em said Garrett, using the telepathic link he had activated with his artifact. Earlier that day he had linked all four of their cards together, so Hideki and Chii heard this as well./p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"However, before anyone could act, they were surrounded. From adjusting the focus of his optics, Garrett could just make out the thinner-than-span class="SpellE"pianowirespan strands that surrounded them. Kicking himself mentally, Garrett believed that should have noticed the sudden absence of people, as a person-clearing field was basic battle magic./p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"The two figures that glided down from the sky appeared as if some invisible veil was concealing them only moments ago. Landing with a soft click-clack, they stood before our quartet of shocked heroes.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"To be able to move so silently that they went unnoticed by Garrett's sensors, they either had to be using a high-level perception-based spell, or they were well-versed in the way of the ninja.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"In front of the black butterfly and her baffled associates stood a young woman, accompanied by a Persocom who resembled a 19-year old young man.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""Nice to see you again, Ms. Lee-Young," said the woman, her blood red lipstick complimented perfectly her vivid hair of the same rich tint. Her eyes were a dark navy blue, like the ocean. She wore a black miniskirt, dark stockings, high heels, a simple red blouse, and lastly, a long, white lab coat. Smirking, she flipped her hair while her hands remained in the pockets of her coat. "Or should I call you Yuuko?"p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"The name stirred fury within Amber's heart, but as she dared not to move, the young girl could only grit her teeth in irritation.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""Melinda Lestat," said Garrett, his voice not only playful, but full of scorn. "To what do we owe the empleasureem of your presence, Madam Rouge?"/p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""Just your Master's heart," quipped Melinda. Her partner at her side stayed silent the entire time, and simply stared ahead with dark smoldering green eyes.p  
>div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto; text-align: center;" align="center"hr style="color: #a0a0a0;" align="center" noshade="noshade" size="1" width="100%" div  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto; text-align: center;" align="center"strongSeveral years ago...strong/p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"Amber remembered the first—and the last time she had felt such terror.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"It had been a day, like any other. Victoria had offered to take a walk with Amber in the morning, in an attempt to help her get accustomed to her new legs. They were walking on the sidewalk that ran through the middle of the main building at Gala Labs. The strange, pale Persocom was not particularly the person she had wanted to see every day, but for the most part, Victoria was the only friend she had right now. She and her 'Master' had been visiting the lab more often, ever since Dr. Lestat and Dr. Orpheum had defected the other week, taking with them a few key files on the CHOBITS Project.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"The next Chobit in the series after Rima, but before Garrett, had to be protected. As her operating system was of a completely different build, Amber's father and Dr. Mihara did not want to take the chance of her being kidnapped.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"Victoria span class="SpellE"Lucreziaspan Hawley. That was her name; otherwise known as Persocom 03. She held no expression as she spoke to Amber, but her voice was passionate all the same./p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""Have you ever stood and stared at the city, Amber? Billions of people just living out their lives... oblivious to what is in front of them." The wind scattered the light blue strands of her length of hair.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"The young amnesiac could not imagine what Victoria could be talking class="GramE"Everyone was oblivious?span Amber had an odd feeling about that ominous statement. She knew her father said to keep this odd Persocom span class="GramE"company/span, but Amber barely remembered how to speak to regular humans./p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"Next thing Amber knew, she was lying on the floor, the small form of Victoria standing over her body. From Amber's head a thin stream of blood trickled down her forehead and the side of her head. She had lost pieces of her memory, but Amber's reflexes were not connected to those missing fragments of time.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"Trembling, Amber looked up at the weapon brandished above her head. It was a straight sword about the length of her forearm. From the glinting steel tip Amber could see a thin line of red, the only indication that it had sliced through her flesh.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""Did you know that the world used to be just like Elysium? Where none suffered, where everyone was happy." Lifting up the blade, Victoria frowned. "But Elysium on Earth had been lost."p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""El-y-span class="SpellE"siumspan?" Amber could not be sure at the moment, but that word held some meaning for her. Just what it was, the young girl wasn't able to recall./p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"All the same, from the corners of her eyes gathered fearful tears.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"Angel, looking at her weapon rather curiously, continued to speak. "I believe that, as a species, human beings define their 'reality' through suffering and misery."p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"Looking down at the heiress, Victoria's icy stare looked through Amber's soul and into the past.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""Unfortunately, they spread their misery to every aspect of their lives, poisoning everything they touched."p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;""Victoria...?" She wanted to plead for her life, but Amber already knew it was useless.p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"The psychotic Persocom actually began to smile. "Don't you see? Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You are a plague. "Victoria stepped forward. "And I... am the cure." Her thin, pale lips held a semi-sweet half-smile as Amber shrunk back in fear and waited for the end. "Your sacrifice is greatly appreciated..."p  
>div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto; text-align: center;" align="center"hr style="color: #a0a0a0;" align="center" noshade="noshade" size="1" width="100%" div  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;"strongemThanks for reading, as always, don't neglect the span class="SpellE"TVtropesspan page, and I warmly accept your reviews. Oh, and, lately I have been speaking to local bookstores to promote my book. On another note, this story has around 18+ chapters left. Then I will fully embark on span class="SpellE"Bakamonogatari/span, finish Yuuko Magica, and reboot the saga in Parallel Souls. I also will try to release the art for I span class="SpellE"dunno/span, some of my stories./em/strong/p  
>p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; widows: auto;" p 


	20. Chapter 18: Mon Ange, Je T'aime

_**Let me stop apologizing and just keep on writing, okay? **_

_**This chapter, and the next, are long, to make up for…stuff.**_

* * *

><p><em>Elysium was lost<em>

_But now it was found_

_Land of the living_

_That we all do mourn_

_If you could see your loved one again_

_What price would you pay?_

_Would you murder someone?_

_Would you die for someone?_

_They are synonymous:_

_Do choose wisely_

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 18: Mon Ange, Je T'aime<span>

Iron coated the inside of his mouth. Minoru winced at both the pain of his injury and the bitter taste it had left upon his tongue. He had not expected to feel this much pain, but from the way he had fought, it was not a surprise. The young boy looked up to see a ceiling fan spinning as fast as his head already was. Blinking, he tried to shake away the dizziness to no avail.

'_Strange,'_ thought Minoru, turning to his side and examining his surroundings, _'what an odd color scheme…'_

Indeed, he was trapped in a pink and yellow room adorned with lace and other frilly objects. Stuffed animals were strewn about messily. It all looked so bright and colorful that he could have sworn that he was inside a dollhouse. Currently, Minoru was lying on a plush bed that matched the room's décor.

Realizing his plight, Minoru forced himself to sit upright. The boy looked at his hands ruefully. They were covered in multiple lacerations, from when he tried to hold on to the window as his kidnappers tried to drag him away.

He was surprised to find that his wand was sitting on the small nightstand beside the bed. Murmuring under his breath, Minoru pointed his wand at his left hand and did a simple healing spell. The bloodied scabs disappeared from that hand in a wash of pale blue light. He did the same to the other hand.

Leaning forward, Minoru touched his forehead lightly. It throbbed with a fierce, angry ache. Whoever had decided to knock him out had not necessarily been gentle.

Minoru tried to leave the bed, but stopped short when he saw his legs emerge from beneath the comforter.

Socks. Ones he would never even attempt to buy, were on his feet. Pink and blue striped socks.

'_Now that's weird…_' mused the boy genius, still not quite lucid.

It took him a minute, but Minoru realized, quite quickly, that these weren't _socks_, but _stockings_.

Looking at his legs for quite some time, Minoru frowned. As his eyes scrolled down, away from his feet, those dark pools of blue grew wider and wider as he took in just exactly what he was wearing.

A dress. A frilly girl's dress. A frilly, black, girl's dress.

No, he would not panic. There had to be a reason for this. There simply had to.

Running a hand through his hair, he noticed a difference in not only the texture, but length of the strands.

"What."

Before his mind had time to accept this new development, Minoru fainted.

* * *

><p>...<p>

Dr. Lestat concentrated on the strings before her, and the piano wires tautened. Her eyes were a dark midnight blue—the color of her mind. It was the color of her soul. Of her very heart.

Our heroes knew better than to move in such a situation.

"Chii?" said Chii, staring at the wires surrounding her. She had a bad feeling that touching them would hurt, so she stayed completely still. However, what was confusing to the little Chobit was that Garrett and Amber weren't doing anything about the situation.

Of course, Garrett _was _trying to find a way out that didn't involve them getting shopped up by Melinda. However, in all the scenarios playing in his mind, nothing was going right. He kept on getting a DEAD END. Only three people would escape unscathed, and that was one too many to lose.

"So," said Melinda, addressing Garrett, "hand over your master, and I'll spare the boy. I might even throw in your little companions beside you."

"The boy?" asked Amber, wondering what the crazy scientist was even talking about.

"That computer whiz-kid," clarified Melinda. Giggling lightly, she flipped her hair again without using her hands. "He surprised me by being a mage. To be honest, he put up quite a fight."

Inside of Amber, her heart felt heavy and cold—a frozen spot inside of her chest, and it was growing. She knew that her friends had told her about

"Minoru?" Amber had known that they might have targeted him. But why hadn't the mansion's security alerted Garrett, if that was the case? "What have you done with him?"

For a moment, Melinda didn't answer, but smiled sweetly and shook a finger from her free hand, the right one, at the quartet.

"Ah ah ah, not so fast, little butterfly. The only words I want out of your mouth are 'I surrender'."

Staring at the woman in the labcoat, Hideki couldn't quite believe how easily that Kokubunji had been captured. The tyke had helped him so many times, and he was incredibly smart, but in the end he had been helpless against this woman.

There weren't many times in his life that Hideki had felt genuinely upset. There weren't many times that he actually felt that he could express this anger in a positive way.

His hands were in his pockets, and he could feel the edge of the card brush against his fingertips. If he could just find enough room to get his hand out of his pocket…

Neither Garrett or Amber was open to negotiate a surrender, so Melinda prepared to launch an attack. With a positively wicked expression, she glanced to her Persocom Partner. She kept the hand still in her pocket steady, to keep the strings in place while he assaulted them.

"Oh Jared, dear," said Melinda, "would you mind—,"

"ADEAT!"

A rage-filled shout echoed throughout the area. A blast of gold light filled the air.

_TWING! TWANG! SNAP! _

The sound of multiple strings being cut reverberated around them. Once a few strings had separated, the others snapped one after the other in some sort of chain reaction.

In the middle of it all was Hideki, brandishing a glowing, golden nodachi in one hand, and holding Chii in the other. The petite blond was sitting on top of his arm, holding what looked like a bundle of flowers. Somewhere in the commotion of Hideki slashing the strings she had decided to summon her artefact.

"Chii and Hideki will punish you for being mean to Minoru-kun!" declared Chii boldly. The angry frown spread across her face was more than out of place. Her artifact, however, was what created a huge contrast between her demeanor and her words. It was a sizeable multicolored bundle of stalked flowers, wrapped into a ramshackle bouquet.

As the strings fell away, Melinda began to look nervous. Although they were magically charged, these strings were surprisingly fragile. Jared's attacks were powerful, but not swift—hence her Wire Cage attack that she had used earlier. Normally they would hold up against the strongest of opponents, even those who used 'anti-magic' techniques. However, what that mere boy had used wasn't anti-magic. Heck, could it have really been _called_ magic? It was more like a miracle that sliced through her strings.

By this time, Garrett had summoned his sword, and Amber had whipped out her trusty red fan.

Determined to keep up her façade, Melinda launched her strings toward the butterfly and her companions again. Jared had already summoned his artefact, a somewhat crude-looking hammer called Mewlmeh. It resembled a cat somewhat, but despite its embarrassing appearance, it was good for both offensive and defensive moves. More often than not, he used it to crush bones, but that was a trivial thing for Melinda to think about now.

"Wire CUTTER!" shouted Melinda, arcing her wires over her head and around in a spiral. They collided with the concrete, ripping up huge chunks of grey stone. Hideki, using the boost of magic Chii was supplying, jumped backwards, away from the shaking ground and whipping strings.

Garrett likewise, held Amber close to him. He dug his sword into the ground, and launched himself upwards to avoid the attack.

Jared tried to swing his hammer towards the ascending duo. The sword that Garrett was using had an _Attack Buffer_ ability that he used to cut the damage dealt to him by at least a fourth. Even though Amber had erected a shield around them, the hammer had burst it like a bubble of gum. Garrett winced at how much his servos rattled at the impact. His auto-correct feature for his balance had been thrown off by the bursts of magic, due to the interference with his optics. He had to rely on his internal gyroscope, and it felt like trying to breath, but not smelling anything—unnatural.

He landed, on his feet however, and Amber followed suit. She slashed at the hammer-wielding boy, whose speed, due to the heavy weapon, was sluggish at best.

Swinging her bundle of flowers over her shoulder, Chii squinted her eyes shut and flung her arm forward like a sword. She was still sitting on Hideki's arm, so it threw him off-balance, but not for long.

"Chiiiiii! Flower Power Attaaaack!" The little Persocom's bouquet threw forward a rain of petals. They passed through Garrett and Amber harmlessly, but they stung when they came in contact with the mad scientist and her assistant.

It was a good distraction, and Melinda noticed right away.

"Jared! Plan Zeta!" she shouted towards the Persocom. His eyes flashed green momentarily, but he sprang backwards, and in one bound, was right beside his partner once again. This, Amber expected, was when the opposing mage and her partner would execute a massively overpowered spell. She braced herself for some sort of retaliation.

Melinda's knowledge of spells, however, was limited to those used for escapes, much like this one.

"Bye, pretties! Catch you later!" With a little leap towards the festival's festivities that were marching down the perpendicular avenue, Melinda blew them a kiss. Jared followed suit. Due to their physical abilities being boosted by magic, the two soared into the sky.

"After them!" said Garrett, following suit. He didn't need all that much magic to go flying, however, and bounded after them. Behind him was Amber, followed by Hideki on foot, who knew nothing of how he had jumped so far earlier.

The devious duo happened to land on one of the giant balloons passing by at the time. For some reason it was like the Thanksgiving Day parade, except in Japan, and the enemy mages bounced off the Red Power Ranger. All the Super Sentai fans marching below them took no note of this.

It appeared the crowd standing on the sidelines had not noticed the pair of flying people, either, because Amber and Garrett repeated the same act, and the same ignorance of the paranormal had been repeated.

Hideki, who was having a much harder time following them on the ground, was irritated, because he had to fight through the crowd, _opposite_ the flow of traffic.

'_Motosuwa_,' thought Garrett, speaking to the young man through the mental link they shared, _'do you see the balloon that they plan to jump towards?'_

Hideki squinted, but when he noticed the strange orange-brown creature that they were swiftly approaching, he shook his head, though Garrett would not even be able to see it.

Realizing this, Hideki replied with the telepathy. _'Uh, yeah. Looks like…a person?'_

He was somewhat right. There were eyes peeking through what looked like a doughnut the same color as the rest of the creature's body. It had circles for hands and feet.

No doubt, Garrett's processing capabilities were pushing his CPU to 99 percent, considering the amount of numbers for physics and probability rattling around in his brain. He was a supercomputer, yes, but keeping your thoughts separate from calculations, in addition to keeping your _balance_ was somewhat draining.

'_I need you to jam your sword as hard as you can into it, and then change it back into a card.' _Garrett's instructions echoed around in Hideki's brain, above the tumultuous din of the parade._ 'Can you do that for us?'_

As Hideki noticed the crowd was getting lighter the further he got to the end of the parade, he nodded and said, 'y_eah, I think I can.'_

Meanwhile, Melinda was preparing a paper talisman, and she merely had to activate it with her blood. She and Jared were about to land on the strange orange brown 'person' balloon that was coming up. All she needed was to transport them back 'home' and devise another way of capturing Amber and her friends.

Biting into her finger, Melinda drew blood and smeared it on the strip of paper in her hands. With a flick of her wrist, she threw it onto the balloon ahead of them.

However, a determined young man was not going to let her have her pudding and eat it too. Hideki had to jump to do it, but he sprung upwards and jabbed the balloon with his sword. Just as Garrett instructed, he morphed it back into a card, and hid it in his pocket. He swam away from the deflating structure.

The talisman caught flame, and she and Jared were tumbling towards it—just as she planned. What she hadn't planned was that her gateway back home had started to _sink_ towards the ground. Coupling that with the time it took Garrett and Amber to catch up to them, the heroic duo slammed into the villains just as a burst of flame engulfed the party of four and disappeared.

When the once-happy festival-goers had realized what had happened to their precious balloon, they stood around it to mourn. The only things left were a deflated balloon and scraps of burnt paper.

"Oh my god," murmured a nearby teenaged boy, staring at the remains of the balloon, "they killed Kenny."

* * *

><p>...<p>

Minoru hated this. He should have thrown away the wig and the dress the moment he noticed them on his body. However, this was impossible. His old clothes were nowhere to be found. The closet was packed full of girl's clothing as well. And he didn't want to run around naked, obviously. To top it all off, the bedroom's door was locked, and no spell he used could even make a scratch on it. The water spell had only harmlessly pearled off of the doorway and soaked into the carpet, where it dried nearly instantly.

With mounting fear, he wondered just how he was going to use the bathroom.

Sure, he didn't have to go now, but—wait. Why was he wondering about the _bathroom_ when he had been _kidnapped_? He didn't know what kind of a person would do such a thing to him, but he wanted answers, and he wanted them now.

The only benefit, he saw, was that they had the decency to feed him. Whoever had captured him had left a few cookies on the small table in the middle. It looked like someone had been having a tea party earlier, what with the stuffed animals seated at chairs and the obvious tea set stationed before him. The kettle in the middle, he soon noticed, was filled with steaming-hot milk.

It still brought up the question of how he was to use the bathroom, but, he reasoned, that would be a hurdle to tackle when he approached it. He wasn't going to have a pity-party this entire time.

So, Minoru decided, even though he was captive in an impenetrable room while dressed as a girl, he would have a personal little tea-party that was **manly**-_as_-_**HELL**_.

Because, frankly, what else was he to do?

* * *

><p><strong>Several years ago…<strong>

Kamijo remembered the first time he laid eyes upon the beautiful mistress that he called 'Angel'. It was the first time he had ever fallen in love with a creature so graceful and perfect. She was a Persocom, yes. But she was much different than those eerie, soulless machines. So much different. She was much different than those defective, bland, human women.

So different and so beautiful. So pure and yet so clever.

She was an entity above this world. An entity that made him want to change this world for the better. Even though it appeared that this world was beyond change, even so, for her sake he would try to do the impossible.

It had been raining that fateful afternoon.

She was standing there in the rain, getting drenched by the downpour. Her head was pointed towards heaven, and her blue hair hanging from her head like a sheet of silk.

The mixture of ambient light and rain had given her a misty halo that enveloped her whole body.

Kamijo remembered how he offered his umbrella to her. He remembered the faint blush upon her cheeks as she accepted it. He remembered how cold her hands were.

Her eyes had looked through him, not at him, and when she finished staring at him, she deemed him worthy of life. The only human, she admitted, that stuck her as worthy of such a thing.

Yes, he remembered.

A single umbrella had changed this world.

* * *

><p><em>You, you looked though me<em>

_With cold blue eyes_

_As lifeless as concrete_

_Come here and give me a kiss,_

_Hold me in your arms,_

_Even though, you are empty_

* * *

><p><em><strong>As many of you have probably guessed, Victoria is the name of the Chobit that I had left out earlier. I want the next chapter to be even longer, so please be patient. If I haven't read your story, yet, it's because I was in editing HELL with my editor(s). The first poem, yes, it's mine. As for the ending poem, I'm currently trying to make another English Cover for an anime theme song. This except was something that I translated from "Fallen," the ending of Psycho-Pass II. If you wouldn't mind, check out the revised version I did of "abnormalize." Stay tuned, and keep on reading!<strong>_


	21. Chapter 19: Truth and Delusions, pt 1

_**I sure hope I made up for lost time. I really really promise to update more regularly. Like LessWrong or some other big fanfiction writer.**_

_**I hope you enjoy this. I did.**_

* * *

><p><em>I want to kiss, no…that's not it…<em>

_Could I perhaps kiss… that's not it either_

_This is it for sure. *deep breath* _

_Please, may I kiss you?_

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 19: Truth and Delusions, pt. 1<span>

Hideki ran. He didn't quite know where he was going, but the adrenaline in his blood really served its purpose. He had fought, and now he was flying down the street at an incredible speed. Hideki ran until Chii hopped out of his arms and he collapsed onto the ground. Looking proud, his petite girlfriend pat him on the back softly.

"Hideki did a good job," said Chii. "But Minoru-kun is still in trouble. Hideki needs to call for help."

This was obvious, but Hideki wasn't sure what to do in this situation. It wasn't as if Amber or Garrett had left them a list of magical emergency numbers for them on the fridge. Normal police would probably not even stand a half of a chance against those psychopaths they jut confronted.

Still panting, Hideki looked up. "Call for help? Chii, I wouldn't know where to start!" He recalled Garrett saying something about the security system at Kokubunji's mansion, but that wasn't enough of a lead for anything. "We should probably check on Yuzuki—she's probably worried, or...worse."

Immediately after Hideki suggested they check up on Yuzuki, Chii's face went blank for a moment, and she stayed that way for about five seconds. Worried, Hideki wanted to shake her a little. However, when her face returned to its normal state, she smiled slightly.

"Yuzuki says she is alright and that no one has harmed her. But she wondered why her calls had not been getting through to us earlier." After a bit of forethought, Chii added: "Oh, and Dragonfly and Kotoko are at the mansion."

* * *

><p>…<p>

Kotoko stared at Kojima. Kojima stared right back. Both of them were inherently stubborn, so it was going to take a while before they were going to agree upon anything.

"I can't believe you're actually going to do this…," growled Kojima. He pressed his thumbs together and continued to lock eyes with his Persocom's unblinking optics.

"Well, believe it," said Kotoko. "If you would stop being so…so _you_ for five seconds, maybe people would like you better, Koji-kun."

Dragonfly rolled his eyes dramatically and folded his arms. Of all the things he's already heard, this was number two on his list of hated phrases. She was beginning to sound like a nagging wife these days, and it was beginning to bug him.

"I already told you: I don't _need_ friends," said Kojima. He sounded as if he said this to himself in the morning in front of the mirror, like some crazy mantra.

"Everybody needs friends," disagreed Kotoko. More and more she had noticed her master drawing away from human contact, and knew that these childish expressions were just him being mulish again. Humans were social creatures, she knew, so this Hikkikomori-like behavior was just too much. It was part of the reason she opened up the email from Garrett that had been marked "URGENT."

"Not me," Kojima asserted.

For about ten milliseconds, Kotoko wondered if this is how Junji sometimes felt when trying to convince Minako of something. However, Minako often had the facts to support the arguments to back up her positions, so this was slightly different. "Are you seriously not going to help them find a kidnapped little boy?"

Looking askance, the programmer scratched his cheek. "Don't let that kid fool you—Kokubunji is about as mature as I am. He'll be fi—OW OW OW*"

In a fit of rage at his insensitive stance, Kotoko had grabbed the renegade programmer by the ear. "That is it, _master._" The girl sighed in exasperation, regarding his 'title' with undisguised derision. "I am going to find Minoru, then, and you're going to help me."

Wincing in pain, Kojima asked through gritted teeth: "Why does that Garrett guy even have your email address in the first place?"

The body that Kotoko had transferred into was indeed capable of blushing, and she did so just then, never neglecting to hold Kojima's ear at just the right pressure to render him helpless. For a moment, Kotoko recalled how skillful Garrett had been in asking for her number, and tried to clear her mind of her frustration at Kojima's ineptitude at being charming.

"H-He happens to be a gentleman, unlike some people who _assist _kidnappers."

Kotoko was never going to let that go, was she?

More importantly, Kotoko was never going to let go of his ear, was she?

* * *

><p>…<p>

The concrete was colder than an iced over lake. However, it wasn't the temperature that awoke Amber. It was Garrett's voice. He was standing in front of her, his arms spend wide.

He was begging.

What was going on here?

That's right. The blurred edges of her mind were meeting together and merging. A memory charm, she suspected, had something to do with it. Her back was against the floor, and her arms were splayed at odd angles. Amber blindly reached out with a single, bloody hand. Where was her artifact?

It wasn't on her person was it? Last she recalled they had been dumped into some strange warehouse. Three daggers shot through her brain, then. Something in her stomach threatened to upend its limited contents. Remembering the ensuing fight was not going to be easy, obviously.

Nearby, she could hear the voices hovering around her. They were slightly muffled, but she could make out most the content. As she listened, Amber refused to believe what was happening.

No, it was impossible. He wasn't. No, he was.

"Garrett, you idiot, why are you surrendering!?" ...was what she had wanted to say. But, unfortunately, her mouth refused to form the words. Yes, even as fazed as she was, Amber knew that he was giving them up.

It was then, without much ceremony, Garret gently picked up his master. With a smug grin, Dr. Lestat asked Jared to lead them away.

Amber wasn't quite lucid, but the last thing she remembered before she passed out once again was her mouth babbling "You fool, you fool..." over and over until she finally was consumed by the darkness.

* * *

><p><em>Somewhere, above it all, the being known deceptively as "Angel" smiled in contentment.<em>

* * *

><p>…<p>

Sitting at his desk in the lecture hall, Junji was reviewing some of his students' papers. Most of them had promise. Many had talent. But as far as he could see, there was nothing 'original'. This was alright, though. No one could expect genius to simply happen spontaneously.

His wife, now, she was the genius, even by Persocom standards. He suspected it had something to do with her "mother," though. She must have "inherited" it from somewhere, he supposed. Imagine his surprise when he actually met Dr. Hakase face to face. It was probably only two and a half—no, three months after their wedding that she arrived at their home, with Minako's older sister in tow.

Minako had been quite, well, not upset about it, but she did seem just a little pissed. Just a bit. Her "father," Dr. Mihara, had at least the courtesy to speak with her without problem. Nevertheless, Dr. Hakase had waited _how many_ years before finally arranging the family reunion?

It also didn't help that she also knew wrote a bit about magic as well. She even was friends with two mage _legends_, but couldn't even pay any mind to Minako?

It turns out that, like Chachemaru, Minako's older sister, Minako had been personally constructed by Dr. Hakase herself. Why she deemed it necessary to abandon—er, entrust her daughter to a complete stranger was even more unfathomable. This fact, coupled with the silly notion that she assumed only a mage would find her interesting enough to buy, magic withstanding, was just ludicrous to Minako.

The fact that she had been watched from her first activation was also unsettling and maddening.

Moreover, the odds of a mage buying her and "activating her true sapience" was like trusting the sun to rise in the morning and chat with you about your dreams. It was just plain old crazy.

(Minako also was upset that her own mother had missed her wedding, so there was that, too.)

Junji shook his head. Tonight they would be having dinner with his mother in law tonight. Miki, his own mother, would be there as well.

Somehow, he knew it was going to be a disaster.

The professor shuffled the papers he held in his hands. As he straightened them out, he hummed to himself to distract his mind from the impending doom that awaited him tonight.

Then a light blue image suddenly popped up before him, completely out of nowhere. It appeared to be a hologram of some sort. There were no visible projectors nearby, so this baffled the man, but nevertheless Junji peered down towards the tiny image.

It was Kotoko. It was a little grainy, due to many factors, but nevertheless, it was the obstinate Persocom, in miniature, standing on his desk.

She looked upset for some reason. Her face was scrunched into one disgusted apathy.

"...fine," she muttered. Clasping her hands together, she looked up at Junji.

With forced sincerity she droned: "Please help us, Junji Takeda-san, you're our only hope."

"...what."

This could definitely count as an excuse to skip dinner.

* * *

><p>…<p>

"How did I get into this?" said Minoru. He had just finished a slightly draining healing charm on Amber several minutes ago. Now she was up and about, pacing back and forth in the bedroom. Garrett was sitting near the tea set, staring at the cups, contemplating his own plans of escape. Already he had an inkling of what she was thinking, but he didn't want to believe she was _that_ desperate to leave this place.

"Yes, how indeed," muttered Amber, wishing they were back home, possibly watching anime.

Minoru folded his arms. "Tsundere-chan?"

Grimacing, Amber stopped pacing. "Yes, Min-kun?"

"How high is your IQ?" he asked seriously.

She pondered why such a question had to be asked _right now_, but said "Somewhere around 189. Why?"

Taking this in, Minoru nodded. "Oh really? Then, please tell me…" The youngster's voice slipped into a deep and deathly register. "_HOW DO YOU MESS UP A RESCUE LIKE THIS?_"

"Ah," said both Garrett and Amber at once.

Garrett shrugged and thought back to the earlier fight they had. "Well, when we jumped into the portal. It seemed like a good idea at the time." Besides, it was their best bet at finding Minoru. They didn't want him to stay a bargaining chip, so they took a leap of faith. Now all three of them were bargaining chips.

"You couldn't have done something else?" asked Minoru, red in the face from irritation.

"Like what?" Amber said dryly. This train of reasoning had better go somewhere, or she was going to hex someone.

Minoru drew a blank at that. "I don't know!" He stomped his foot like a child having a tantrum. "You were on the outside of this cursed room!"

"Well, if there is any consolation, this room resembles Mary's Room." Amber said this and sat down at the tea party with Garrett. She looked at the tea and wondered how it would taste. It smelled like Earl Grey but she couldn't be sure. The tea cups were almost as nice as the ones she had back home in California.

Minoru stared at them blankly. He wasn't in the mood for mage trivia right now. "Mary's **what**?"

"It's a room impervious to scrying," explained Garrett as his partner sipped her tea.

Garrett tilted his head slightly and observed his surroundings more closely. He could see the outlines of several powerful spells hanging in the air, looking like quantum physics equations."Hmmmm. Actually, analyzing this place, I would say this place is Sarah's Room."

"That's even worse," said Amber, running a hand over her face in frustration. "In addition to being invisible to scrying, it's pretty much impervious."

There went 99 percent of her plans. There was probably only plan left that she could try, but she had never tried to accomplish it herself. She wouldn't even know if it would _work._ Yes, her best element was fire, but if Sarah's Room was just as impervious as it was nigh untraceable, then they would probably die trying to escape.

"So that means?" Minoru was growing more impatient as time went on.

Amber looked a little downcast as she gazed into her teacup. According to Garrett they were trapped seemingly forever. "Well, other than artefacts, we'll never be found, and we'll never escape."

"Oh that's just fine. Any **good **news, then?"

"We know someone who could help," began Garrett, thinking over their options. "If we could just contact them—,"

"Oh, good to know, then…" Minoru nodded slightly, and then stopped. "NOT!" His voice took on a more ironical tone. "I'm quite sure that this crazy lady has a signal scrambler. I bet even a Sat phone wouldn't even work!"

"Calm down, Min-kun." Sighing despondently, Amber set down her teacup.

This was really not okay. This really really was not okay. Even though he was upset and everything, neither Garrett nor Amber could really take him seriously—not dressed like _that_. What was most unsettling was that it suited him very well.

However to say that aloud, to his face, was another story.

"Calm down? Calm _down_? AHARHARHAR." The young genius laughed scornfully at their chances of escape. "I'm wearing a dress, and you suggest I _calm down_? Why I can't even believe that you would suggest such a thing—,"

Watching him begin to rant, Amber sighed heavily, took out her heart-shaped wand from the holster attached to her thigh, and pointed it at Minoru. "_Somnium_."

The boy slumped to the floor in a heap of snores. Sometimes sleeping spells were the best.

* * *

><p><em>*Here, in Japanese, Kojima is about to say "Minoru-kun wa daijobu desu" when referring to Minoru. However, due to Kotoko…he cuts short the first word and starts to say "Itai" very loudly. Which means in English, "It hurts," or, more simply: "Ow." <em>

_So, all in all he said, in reality, "…dai—ITAI ITAI ITAI."_

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you all for being so patient. I had to write this chapter from the hospital. Long story. I'm okay. I really need to get around to reviewing Thanos of Titan's story, "<strong>_**Coming to Terms".**_** I also should write a trope page for it and edit the one for his other story, "**_**Rebellion."**_** Both are Chobits fanfiction, and, well, they're really good, but I've been busy, releasing my book and whatnot. Just search **_**"Rolitania" in Google**_**, and you'll get what I mean. I drew the cover myself. But the main reason I've not updated is Internet issues again. **

**However, I give you my condolences, Thanos of Titan. I lost my Ivy last March, so I understand. I'll review when I can, and I hope the best for you. Thanks for being one of my most loyal readers/reviewers. **


	22. Chapter 20: Truth and Delusions, pt 2

**_Madoka is Love. Madoka is Life. Love for the Love Goddess. Hope for the Hope Goddess. Everything will make sense in time._**

* * *

><p><em>My son, my son,<em>

_My life for my son_

_Your breath escaped,_

_And you were gone_

_My darling little son_

_You always were so beautiful_

_And I shall bring you back_

_My son_

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 20: Truth and Delusions, pt. 2<span>

"Do you think that he received the message?" Kojima took off the red-tinted spectacles and sighed, replacing them with his regular glasses. Glancing over at Kotoko, who was removing a thin golden band from her wrist, Kojima tried not to groan audibly. Using his artefact was actually very tiring, and he wondered if Kotoko was feeling as drained as he was.

Kotoko shrugged. "I'm pretty sure. The image of him wasn't very clear, but I think Takeda-san understood our message."

"Great, good," said Kojima in relief. "Then that means our work is done."

"Abeat," said them both at the same time. The glasses and the golden band both turned back into cards.

For a moment, Kotoko gave Kojima a slightly amused look. This was the second time in weeks that they had said things in unison, and it was quite funny to see Koji-kun get embarrassed at that fact. It wasn't as if she were trying to make them synch up, but this cute little coincidence did make her feel like she was growing closer to him.

He had been studying magecraft ever since Kokubunji and Lee-Young had introduced him to the world of magic, and Kojima wouldn't let it show, but he was gradually getting better every day due to his studies. In fact, ever since their contract, she could feel the flow of mana between them steadily increasing as time went on, so that was a good sign. All these new sensations flowing through her processors were so exhilarating.

The fact that they actually did kiss was interesting in itself.

Blushing violently at the thought of that day, Kotoko resolved not to bring up that memory file again. Whenever she did, her processes, including the ones dedicated to walking, refused to work properly. First opportunity she got she was going to put a monitor on those memory blocks to ensure she didn't slip up and think about…_the_ kiss.

She hoped Dr. Takeda would arrive soon. After they rescued Kokubunji and his friends, she wanted to book a therapy session with the odd mage. He probably would know how to help her sort out these…feelings.

Kotoko had wondered if it would have been faster simply to _call_ Dr. Takeda, but considering many factors, one of them being that they forgot to exchange numbers—this was much faster. Besides, his actual phone number was unlisted, due to much of the negative publicity he and his wife had gathered in the past.

He arrived quicker than they expected. Yuzuki permitted him to enter, and bowed slightly when he stepped into the manor.

"So what can I do for you kids?" asked Junji good-naturedly, his hands in his pockets. "Minako will be here in a few minutes. She was hung up with a little…complication, earlier, but it's fine now, I'm sure."

The complication was ….well it was Dita again. But Minako had a bigger surprise for her that time.

Yuzuki, followed by the other maid Persocoms, escorted Junji to Minoru's office, where Kotoko and Kojima were waiting. Chii and Hideki had arrived only three minutes prior, so they were there as well.

In response to his question, no one said anything.

Junji wondered if he misunderstood the message. "Er...I'm sure you all called me here for a reason, right?"

"About that," said Kojima, "we need you to help us find Kokubunji, Garrett, and Lee-Young."

As Dragonfly quickly learned, his artefact could track down anyone for whom he knew the face. However, as he explained to Junji, he couldn't find any of the three missing persons.

"I don't understand what's wrong," said Kotoko. "I admit that magic is _strange_, but it still follows set rules, from what I have observed so far."

"So you all need help storming the castle, huh?" Scratching the back of his head, Junji thought over the possibilities. "But first we have to find it..."

"Chii," murmured the Chobit in agreement. "Chii had searched for Amber earlier, but there was no signal from either her or Garrett."

"Then they're probably in a location shielded from scrying. That's one clue. But places like that are often small, about the size of a room. Maybe we don't even have to search for them, specifically."

"That's right," muttered Kojima, placing a hand over his chin.

"Did I miss something?" asked Yuzuki, giving Junji a pleading look. "How would you go about doing that?"

"Yeah that's..." Hideki looked askance. He didn't even begin to understand. "I don't get it."

"Look," explained Junji, "they can't hide a whole house from scrying, unless they used a certain charm I know, but even that's highly complicated. The most they can probably do is hide them in a small, undetectable room. I highly doubt that the kidnappers and their targets all are holed up in the same tiny space."

"So," cut in Kojima, "that means that in the case of the captors, we can search for _them_, instead. It's genius!"

"But one problem," Kotoko furrowed her brow, "we don't know what they look like. Yuzuki didn't even get a glimpse of them, or anything." The manor's security network hadn't even caught them on camera, either, so it wasn't like Yuzuki could have searched for them.

"We did," said Hideki, raising his hand. "But I don't have a good recollection of what they looked like. I mean, what with the flying concrete and razor-sharp strings—,"

Chii waved her hand around in the air. "Ooh, ooh! Chii remembers! Chii can send Kotoko a picture!" She smiled enthusiastically and closed her eyes.

Kotoko looked at the slight blonde skeptically. "Wait, Chii, you don't even know my email. Besides I thought you couldn't..."

She didn't even finish the sentence. Kotoko hit the floor, her eyes dark and blank.

* * *

><p>…<p>

Shinji. That was her son's name. He had an odd habit of dressing up like a girl, but even so...

He was Melinda's most cherished person.

The last time she saw him he had dressed up in one of his cutest dresses, and was going to an "IRL-meet," whatever that was. With glee shining in his eyes, he had told his mother that he was meeting a girl who was interested in cross-dressing as well. She wasn't disgusted by his hobby, and was just as serious as him when it came to dressing as a male. Melinda was shocked to hear when Shinji had claimed they were in love.

"You'd love Yuma, mama. She's so cool!" Shinji had told her while blushing.

When he arrived at the cafe, the girl named Yuma was there, yes, but...someone devious had been watching them both from the shadows.

That someone killed both of those children.

Melinda...painted the street with that murderer's blood.

But it didn't bring back her son. Nothing would.

Nothing, except for The Game.

* * *

><p><strong>Picosoft Panes 8, Rebooting...<strong>

**Starting in Safe Mode**

**System Crash Report:**

**Data Overload, Emergency Shutdown—Success**

**Disk space used: 30%**

* * *

><p>…<p>

She was surprised. Last he checked, this body's storage space was only 2% full.

"Kotoko?...KOTOKO!?"

Ah, someone was calling her. She recognized it was Kojima, but she was still rebooting, so her eyes weren't able to open just yet. Her sense of touch was loading, now. It was... different than usual, but it did feel familiar. Kojima's arms were cradling her, she could tell.

The last of her start-up processes finally finished running, and she opened her eyes.

Immediately, though, in the back of her mind, she could see the file Chii had sent her. This wasn't a picture. Not really. It was a full blown movie file. The detail, though, was incredible.

"Woah," said Kotoko. How many colors could someone pack into an image? Her software didn't come with a filter that detected _ultraviolet, _but_ somehow __with_those two extra colors that Kotoko noticed in the playback, she identified them correctly.

Was this how Chii saw the world?

"Thank goodness," sighed Kojima. His eyes were teary, but he didn't even bother to wipe them away. "Kotoko, are you okay? "

What an odd question. Kotoko scrolled her eyes around the room. It looked...so much richer than before. The sensations from her sensors were all _deeper_, if that was possible.

Without speaking, Kotoko rose to her feet. She stared at everyone for a moment before smiling.

"I'm fine, Koji-kun. Actually, I feel _great_." She took a deep breath. Kotoko could have sworn that the air was even different somehow, too.

A certain little Chobit stepped forward with a guilty look. "...Chii is sorry about hurting you, Kotoko-chan."

Kotoko rolled her eyes. "It's alright, Chii. Just don't do it again, okay?" Honestly, though, this was pretty neat. She felt like a totally different person. "And you didn't send me a picture. That was a whole _video_ file. It worked, though." She placed a hand on Chii's head and fluffed the blonde locks. "You mind if I use your printer, Yuzuki?"

"O-okay," said the blue-haired maid. "I'll admit you to the network."

"Good. Because I got a good look at those troublemakers." Kotoko shot Chii a sly grin. "A very good look."

* * *

><p><em>Save me a spot<em>

_So when I get there_

_I'll be next to you_

_For always and always_


	23. Chapter 21: Broken Dreams, pt 1

_**UPDATE FEVER HAS GRIPPED ME. I CANNOT STOP NOW. I REALLY SHOULD REVIEW THOSE STORIES IN MY QUEUE, SHOULDN'T I?**_

…_**I AM DETESTABLE.**_

_**ENJOY.**_

* * *

><p><em>Take a look at this world,<em>

_So full of contradictions_

_Don't hesitate to_

_Pull the trigger!_

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 21: Broken Dreams, pt. 1<span>

"You better _Hope_ it doesn't kill us…" Garrett grumbled loudly while pressed against the far wall of the room. His components were highly resistant to heat, but he wasn't taking any chances with the crazy mage in front of him.

Amber was standing in the middle of the room, her eyes so focused on the wall that—in another universe, perhaps, she could have burned holes through the near-impenetrable structure.

Unconsciously mimicking the same panicked expression, Minoru stood beside Garrett, also pressed against the wall. He had tried to convince her to try again to disable the wards on the room, but there was no use talking to her, now. They had failed three times to short out the room's generalized spellwork, but the feedback of attempting such a thing was debilitating. The room would respond with a mild electric shock, enough to stun the occupants and leave them twitching on the floor.

When Minoru announced that he could sense Yuzuki nearby, Amber and Garrett gaped at him. It was at that moment that the heiress of Gala Inc. decided she was busting out of this joint.

She had never tried this spell before. That didn't mean that an amateur couldn't execute it the first time—it just meant that controlling it was going to be nearly impossible. Sure, Amber's best element was fire, but….conjuring **fiendfyre** was probably the most reckless and stupid thing she ever tried.

Even now, Garrett feared for his life. Minoru did as well.

Amber always feared for her life, so her view had not changed with this decision.

She recalled that once, as Yuuko, she had accomplished this before, and he result had been desirable then, so why not now?

Amber lifted the wand and stared ahead with the passion of a thousand suns.

"Az-reth…Azreth….." she began chanting. "Azreth….Azreth…."

Thankfully, magical fire gave no soot or smoke, and didn't even need to consume oxygen. But that was the least of their worries at the moment. The flame began small at first, but it gradually grew in size the more she focused. Her voice grew deeper as she continued to chant the spell.

Something, a memory, floated to the surface of her mind like a dead body.

Her magic exploded, then.

In one second, the other half of the room was engulfed in bright red flames.

* * *

><p>…<p>

Yuzuki willed herself not to feel any pity for this woman. Dr. Lestat was a kidnapper, plain and simple. She was part of The Game, which meant she wanted to kill Ms. Lee-Young for her heart. All of this Yuzuki knew, yet, she felt pity for the woman. Her son had been murdered, and she simply wanted to see him again.

In a way, the Persocom could understand.

However, this was not the time for pity.

The wind shifted, and Yuzuki adjusted the sniper rifle to the left by a hairbreadth. She looked through the scope and kept those mushy thoughts at bay. She probably would have fared better looking through her optics, but this was her _artefact_. Not only was it able to change into any firearm that Yuzuki willed it to be, but when she looked through the scope of any of the weapons—if it had one, then she was able to see through walls.

When she had first activated her artefact, Yuzuki had wondered why it had to be _guns_. The artefact normally manifested as an extension of the contractor's soul. However, in contrast with that, Yuzuki was incredibly nonviolent. The only connection to her and guns would be Minoru—who, in the past, often would use her to play his online FPS games. She honestly detested the First-Person-Shooter genre, but Minoru had gone through an obsessive phase with them. He had calmed down considerably since then—having switched over to fantasy RPG. Still, these days he hardly asked her to play games with him, or used her for any sort of gaming, and it made her feel slightly lonely.

Yuzuki sighed. This was getting her nowhere, being nostalgic about how close they _used_ to be. It had taken her quite some time to realize her young master's feelings for her, but now was not the time for sentiment. The fingers in her left hand caressed the massive gun. It did not move, due to the two stubby 'legs' it had to prop itself up.

For the past minute, Yuzuki had been searching through the scope for any sign of Minoru and the others. She had noticed Dr. Lestat and her partner, but no trace of their hostages. The only suspicious thing she noticed, however, was a surprising little blank spot in the far end of the building when she scanned the entire thing.

That was where Minoru was being held—she was 98 percent certain.

Yuzuki aimed at Dr. Lestat. The nefarious mage was sitting in a reclining office chair with her feet perched lazily on her desk. Standing beside the desk was Johan, who was charging, from the looks of it.

Preparing to squeeze the trigger, Yuzuki felt a pang of guilt streak though her once again.

'_No….'_ she thought, shutting her eyes. _'Stay icy. Let go of these emotions... I am a machine made of ice.'_

It didn't _have _to be a head-shot, of course. It was what Amber would have suggested, most likely, due to the nature of The Game: "Kill or be killed." But that type of cruelty was simply not part of Yuzuki's core nature.

One dark cerulean iris looked through the scope once more. In that moment, everything became crisp and clear. Yuzuki held the gun and it seemed not to be a gun anymore—but had become a part of her being.

Four and a half feet long. Over 30 pounds. 50 calibers. An anti-matériel sniper rifle clothed in black.

It had power. There was no denying that. It had range. That was clear to see. It could have ended this all right now. But no, she wouldn't let this part of her do something so evil.

To steel herself, Yuzuki surrendered herself to that dark side, the one she held in her hands—but not completely. She could feel its hunger for blood gnawing on the inside of her like a malicious computer worm.

This part of Yuzuki wanted to see this woman suffer, lying in a pool of her own blood.

A patch of white cloth wrinkled in her vision.

Without thinking, she pulled the trigger.

* * *

><p>…<p>

The sound of a window pane breaking. It served no warning as a 12.7 mm bullet zoomed—not through the glass, but through the aluminum-alloy _wall_ and connected with Dr. Lestat's arm. There was nothing behind the arm, thankfully for her, since she had risen from her chair to retrieve her cellphone, which she had placed on the book shelf earlier.

Bones snapped and muscles tore. Blood arced out in a beautiful crescent from the wound. If a video of the scene had been slowed down, you would easily be able to distinguish the moment before and after the shocked woman's arm exploded away from her body.

It separated from the upper arm in the midpoint between elbow and shoulder.

Shock had paralyzed her for a second, but it was only a moment after that the deranged mage screamed in both surprise and anguish. Johan was still 'asleep', and his settings for awakening were not set at sensitive levels, so he was quite literally useless in this situation.

Minako and Junji, followed by Chii and Hideki, barged into the warehouse, thanks to a few precise slices from Minako's small swords.

'_They're in the far end of the building, Mrs. Takeda,' _Yuzuki transmitted to the green-haired beauty. '_It's the only place I couldn't see through my scope.'_

"Chii has come to save the day!" announced the little Chobit from Hideki's shoulder.

They all rushed ahead to the now-smoking room in the far off corner of the dingy and dark warehouse.

* * *

><p><em>The pain ate through my sanity<em>

_And when I awoke_

_I had no dreams left_

_My dreams died the second_

_My legs were removed_

* * *

><p><em><strong>All the references..lol. The beginning "poem" in italics is the English lyrics(translated it myself) I wrote for…er…a video I plan to upload soon. What Yuzuki told herself is a shout out to both the Uglies series, and Sword Art Online, volume 5, Phantom Bullet. "Stay Icy" is what the Specials tell each other, and the bit about being a machine made of ice is from Shion, who…is a sniper…<strong>_

_**Um, chiao.**_


	24. Chapter 22: Broken Dreams, pt 2

_**So the Internet is locked at all times except 3-4, and 8-10. Which sucks. Hpmor ended, which was bittersweet for me. I had a really nice time putting a soundtrack to this, but sadly, you'll never really get to hear it. Enjoy the story.**_

* * *

><p><em>Somebody save me<em>

_I'm a fragile little thing_

_Somebody help me_

_This story that I sing_

_I want to dance,_

_I want to die_

_I want to dance with Death_

_I want to throw away that memory_

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 22: Broken Dreams, pt. 2<span>

Okay, stupidity aside, it had been a good idea at the time. Amber had to remind herself never to set off an incredibly destructive magical fire inside a nigh-invulnerable room ever again. However, at the moment she was lying flat on the floor, unable to move, but still conscious. The books had said it needed one drop of blood as sacrifice, and that an inexperienced user could summon it, but the amount of mana it took to fuel fiendfyre was staggering. Amber lasted only about thirty seconds before she had very nearly passed out.

Of course, Minoru and Garrett were there, too, but the flames were so wild that they were pinned to the wall.

Minoru was staring at right ahead, wishing he had memorized a more powerful water charm. His wand trembled in his hand, and he couldn't concentrate hard enough to focus his mana. The one spell he tried had fizzled out before his eyes. The equations involved with manipulating reality just fell apart as if the wrong numbers had been inserted into the problem.

On the other hand, Garrett was even more fearful than the youngster beside him. He could feel the heat encroaching upon them. The crackle of flames seemed like thunder. He wanted to shut his eyes, but it would have been useless. All he could do was stand near the wall and tremble.

He had known this was a bad idea, but his partner was always so adamant about leaving.

She knew he was afraid of fire, but still...Amber had gone through with this failed plan. The girl on fire who had roped him into this mystical world.

Screaming. In the back of his mind, he could hear the strangled cries for help. Memories playing back on an infinite loop; one of his first recovered memories...

* * *

><p><em>Falling and falling<em>

_Rolling and tumbling_

_The memories came tumbling_

_Down_

* * *

><p>...<p>

He and Amber were riding in a limo, chatting about something frivolous. They were on their way to school, and as usual, they were making good time. He sat elbow to elbow with the girl, their hands intertwined. He was laughing about some silly pun she had made up on the spot. The limo was rounding the corner of the road, and it was slightly foggy, as it usually was on these mountainous Californian roads.

An explosion rocked the cabin. A burst of light and heat blew them apart. The entire limo rolled down the mountain, rolling end over end.

He had tried to protect her, but after the third revolution, they were wrenched apart.

When he had gained consciousness, there was screaming.

Fire was everywhere.

In the distance, he could see where Amber had landed. She was awake, and the source of the screaming. Smiling above her was a girl. A girl with light blue hair. The girl had a strange long weapon with two blades.

The blades were stained in blood, and the tip one of them was embedded in the middle of Amber's thigh.

Garrett couldn't speak. He wanted to reach out and help her. However, nothing was moving. Was his spine broken? A coldness in the back of his head seemed to blossom. It was spreading to his arms and legs. He could feel the life draining away from him along with his blood.

The screaming was not stopping. It keened on and on without letting up.

The flames licked at his useless arms and legs. When the fire washed over him, it was like his skin had been plunged into acid. He could not yell out in pain, but merely close his eyes and let the everlasting darkness overtake his soul.

* * *

><p><em>I want to<em>

_I want to_

_Throw away that memory!_

* * *

><p><em>...<em>

He awoke to the light intrusion of a kind mind. From the model number alone, he could tell it was Mrs. Takeda. It had been one of the first things he memorized upon meeting her.

"Garrett!"

From the darkness, he heard a voice.

"Garrett!"

Oh, at least his auditory functions were still working. Hideki was calling him.

As part of his restarting procedure, Garrett reinitialized his visual input processes and opened his eyes, adjusting his optics as he did.

That had been mildly embarrassing. He had crashed. That was new. It was the Persocom equivalent of fainting, more or less, but he was surprised that it had happened to him. He had never actually crashed before, from what his logs showed.

Now they were outside of that accursed room, evidently dragged out of there by their friends.

"Lee-Young-san!"

Another voice; not for him, but for his partner. Garrett glanced over to her. Junji was trying to hold her in a sitting position, but she wasn't lucid enough to support herself fully. Her eyes lolled around, not quite looking at anyone in particular.

The older mage had tried to revive her with a healing spell without much effect. He tried shaking her.

Nothing was working.

'_Figures,'_ thought Garrett, moving over to her and taking her head into his hand. _'This isn't a wound a simple spell can fix.'_ Like him, maybe the flames had reminded her of something. If that was the case, then spells definitely wouldn't help.

For all he knew it probably was something that would wear off in a minute or so, but for now she was somewhat useless.

Junji looked over the young girl and sighed. "I'm sorry, Garrett, but I don't know what to do."

"She summoned fiendfyre," said Garrett softly. He was already on his feet, but his partner was still recovering.

Upon hearing this, Junji's eyes widened. "She could have killed you all! What was she thinking?" Such a spell was infamous for turning on its caster. She was lucky to have been merely knocked unconscious, instead of being burned to a crisp.

Garrett couldn't say what she had been thinking, but he didn't try to explain.

At that moment, the warehouse began to shake.

* * *

><p><strong>Rebooting...<strong>

A deep rumbling noise echoed in the large, empty space. From the far end of the building, the bloodied form of Dr. Lestat dragged towards them, pointing a gun at the crew of seven people. Behind her, Johan and his hammer were not far behind.

"No one is taking those three away from us," she said. "And if you even try to signal your little sniper friend, I'll fry half of you with an EMP. The other half? I'll blow your brains out."

"Mistress has that ability," confirmed Johan cheerfully. "In the event of her death, I am to initiate the procedure."

"So," she punctuated the sentence with an angry snarl, "you would-be saviors, step away."

Minoru eyed the stump of an arm left back on the enemy mage. It had stopped bleeding, due to a spell, most likely, but the tattered sleeve barely surrounding it was ringed in red.

"If you think—," began Minako, taking a step forward. She lifted her blades.

"Go."

Everybody looked to Amber. Was she crazy? Moreover, she was already awake!? In moment the doctor had distracted them, Amber had recovered enough to speak, more or less. They had come all this way to save the three of them. A threat like that was scary, but no one could be sure of its veracity.

"You don't have to pretend to—," Hideki started to say, but he was interrupted by Amber again.

"I do. And it's not pretend." From Garret's arms, Amber gave a dagger-sharp look to their captor. "Dr. Lestat, There are sigils engraved in the floor, am I right?"

The doctor looked contemplative for five seconds. "Correct. If you three try to leave, well..."

Looking to the floor, Amber bit her lip. "Takeda-san, Hideki, Chii...go to the exit." The crazy heiress climbed to her feet, waving away any help from her partner.

"But Chii wants to help!"

Ignoring this request, Hideki picked up his girlfriend bridal-style.

"Hideki, let Chii go," protested the blonde, "Chii wants to help."

"Minako..." Junji put a hand on his wife's shoulder.

Clicking her tongue, Minako looked away from the scene unfolding in front of her. She knew what that meant. The way he said her name was all she needed. But still...

"This isn't right," said Minako bitterly, following after their younger friends.

"You may watch," said Dr. Lestat, not even glancing to watch the procession of people retreating to the doorway they had burst into. "There isn't anything you can do, besides that."

After the four rescuers were where they were instructed to stand, the doctor and her assistant began to walk. Dr. Lestat kept her gun trained on them as she and Johan carefully stepped backwards, away from them. When they had gone quite a significant distance, Dr. Lestat smiled and stopped in her place.

"You intend to make this a game don't you?" Noticing that Minoru was beside her, Amber brought him close, hugging him around the shoulder.

"It _is_ called 'The Game', dear butterfly." Dr. Lestat said this without much passion, and tilted her head to the side. "Adeat!"

Her voice seemed to make the whole area dim, and the rumbling grew louder in intensity. Below their feet, a glowing light shone forth in an ever-changing hue. The sigils impressed on the floor were moving. A scraping sound, one of metal against metal, screeched through the warehouse. All the humans, save for Dr. Lestat, covered their ears to protect themselves from the awful noise. Before their eyes, the ground was twisting and turning. The large, thin lines of the sigils were changing and widening.

"If you survive this...my true artefact... 'The Arcana of Time'...then you may leave."

Time, huh? The only thing she could never trust again.

* * *

><p><em>Is it wrong to wish to be seen?<em>

_Your words are hollow,_

_And removed from Hope._

_Do you love me?_

_Or am I just...a toy?_

* * *

><p><em><strong>So time is running out quickly. Yeah. I hope I get to finish this. I keep proofreading, but I should probably quadruple-check. Chiao for now.<strong>_


	25. Chapter 23: Broken Dreams, pt 3

_**Sometimes I wonder if I'm giving away too much of my soul. Every chapter seems like therapy. But I just want you all to be happy. Forgive my cheesy rhymes. I'm sorry that I've not been on TvTropes lately; I just can't deal with it , and I don't know what's wrong with me. Thank you for reading. Enjoy this last installment of the second story arc. A good song for the...interesting scene inside the artefact is "håll om mig nu," because that's the song I thought of when writing it.**_

* * *

><p><em>I can't look you in the eyes<em>

_Am I an enemy here?_

_Maybe it's only a fluke_

_Do you know what time is near?_

_You don't?_

_I do._

_Never leave me again..._

_Garrett, you're my only friend_

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 23: Broken Dreams, pt. 3<span>

As the artefact unfolded around them, Amber began to sweat. Closed spaces were never her favorite place to be. Despite still being able to see the ceiling of the warehouse, the large metal structures that had risen up from the floor were tall enough to obstruct the view of their friends.

Shining, curved and more deadly than it seemed, this place certainly felt familiar. Just from glancing at their surroundings, Amber recognized exactly where they were.

They were standing on the inside of a gigantic, warped clock.

At either side of the three captives were large gears. If that wasn't enough, these gears also happened to be moving. On top of that, they were as sharp as swords.

If they stood in the middle, they would've been safe. But the three of them couldn't stay there forever. Amber didn't want to put Minoru in any danger, and she doubted that he would be able to get out of this contraption on his own.

She looked ahead, to where she imagined Dr. Lestat was standing. If she was going to survive, then she'd have to pass this test, wouldn't she?

"You're crazy," Garrett watched as Amber let go of Minoru and looked out to the ever-changing landscape of the artefact. "You won't last even a minute!" He could see a definite pattern with the sharpened gears, and surely Amber could as well. But she was human. Her body was not capable of navigating a path through that minefield without serious injury. If anyone was to get out of here, it was him. And even then, he was sure that he would need some significant repairs at the end of it.

"I'll take that chance." Amber watched the enormous clock with a careful, even gaze. There was a certain rhythm to the way these gears slid from side to side and continued to spin. If Amber closed her eyes and listened...she could almost hear a song emerge from the deadly contraption. Besides that, there were many "safe spots" if you looked carefully; places where the gears would not collide with one another or cross. It was just getting there that was the problem.

For the first time in years, the heiress pointed her toes and outstretched her arms to her sides.

Her eyes opened, and she let out a shaky breath. It was showtime.

Even with these legs, she could do it if she believed.

"Amber, wait!" shouted Garrett.

The girl bounded out onto her deadly stage.

* * *

><p>…<p>

Meroko. She didn't want to do this, but she had signed a contract. Being a star wasn't always sugar and roses. She tried not to narrow her eyes at the Persocom sitting next to her. It wasn't that she was jealous or even hated Miku. She just didn't like her very much. Her or any of the Vocaloid-'Coms never really rubbed her the right way. Especially not Len, that creepy little shota...

Even the way Miku was smiling at her felt... **disgusting**. As if she were secretly plotting her demise! Or looking down on her, or...

'_Calm down, Meroko... why are you so paranoid?'_

Instead, Meroko should have felt sorry for her. Miku was a lot like Momoko-chan, another Persocom pop idol, in terms of contact. However, unlike Momoko, Miku was far older in terms of concept. Why, just the other year she was a mere hologram. And even before that, she was only an image and a voice bank.

Her longevity was what irritated Meroko the most.

'_Stupid bitch should have stayed in the 2D world,'_ she couldn't help but think spitefully.

This interview with her was probably the last crazy-straw, though. The ditzy-looking reporter had even decided to cosplay in a colorful wig and outfit, so she wouldn't look too out of place next to the two Persocoms. Her makeup was layered on so smooth and thick that if Meroko didn't know any better, then Reporter Izumi Kuroko had even better skin than she did.

"I hear that you have memories of every performance you've ever done, even when you were still a hologram. Is that true?" said Izumi, motioning to Miku.

"Yeah, it is. I think my top two favorite places to sing were that talk show host in America, and when I opened for Lady Gaga."

Meroko tried not to roll her eyes. As a Persocom, Miku should have had a much better pronunciation of other languages than she did. Even more so than the normal Persocom, because her base Vocaloid program had been translated into so many languages already.

When they unveiled her, her company had boasted of how she was able to sing in almost any language. But right now, she had just said "Raydy", instead of "Lady". Meroko had grown up in America, but she didn't speak Japanese with an accent, like Miku did with English.

'_Just use your English voice bank, for crying out loud!_' thought Meroko.

"...he looked at me like he was a perv, but he was still a _nice-o gai,_" continued Miku, her green twin tails swaying.

Izumi smiled as it were the funniest thing in the world. "Oh Miku-chan, you're too funny! Ahahaha..."

'_Kill me. Just fry my CPU and recycle me into spare parts.'_

Still, Meroko kept that smile on her face. Otherwise, she would have rung the other girl's neck. She didn't need any lawsuits right now.

"So Meroko-tan," began Izumi, turning to the pinkette.

Meroko's ears twitched.

'_There she goes, making my name sound cutesy again. My body is designed to be way more developed then that old geezer next to me, so why the hell—,'_

"Why do _you_ think the three most popular Persocom idols have names that all start with an M?"

'_What kind of a question is that?'_

Meroko's smile faltered by two millimeters.

'_...If I could barf, I think I'd be doing that right now.'_

* * *

><p><em>So hold me<em>

_You've locked into the target_

_Hold me_

_In this dizzy deux-dance_

_Come on, let us prance,_

_Come on and hold me, now_

* * *

><p>…<p>

It had been so long since she danced. A sane person would have stretched first. However, she had no muscles in her legs left to pull, so that would have been futile.

Garrett could not stop her, nor Minoru. Her other friends could not clearly see what she was doing, but if they could, they would have shouted in bitter protest.

'_I am one with the air and earth.'_

She launched into the air suddenly, as if she had taken flight. Two gears zoomed by, cutting the hem of her dress into fringes. Amber did not pause, but slid nimbly over the ground, hanging right. The slots for the gears made it difficult for her to put her feet flat on the ground, so she had to tip-toe around them.

A gear popped from the slot Amber had planned to cross. She heard it just in time for her to lift her leg up sharply, nearly touching her face. After this, the girl could not sigh in relief, though. As the gear rolled away, another cog came flying at her, and she turned, sashaying in a diagonal to the left. Remarkably, Amber was not even halfway to the edge of the artefact, but already she was feeling sluggish.

Her arms bent out of the way of two gears that slid past on her sides.

She continued this dangerous dance for thirty seconds more.

'_Just a few meters left…'_

Up ahead were two rods embedded in the ground, and on it were several gears, placed horizontally. Leaping over a low-spinning blade, she noticed the timing of these gears were slightly off. The gears were actually winding around the rods without any visible support, and as they revolved, one would pass one over the other.

However, with each pass, the delay between them meeting grew larger. With the pace she was moving, Amber would probably not clear them. Not without losing something, at least.

Without hesitation, Amber approached the first gear quickly, and as it was at chest-level, she had to duck to clear it. But she was not quite that fast, and it very nearly sliced her head off.

In the second before it cut into the flesh on her throat, something extraordinary happened.

Even Garrett couldn't believe his eyes as, just like in the movies, everything slowed down.

Amber leaned back and sprung to her feet just as she survived past the gear. Everything sped up to normal time once more until the second gear came close to slicing off her legs.

Time obeyed once more.

It flowed like molasses.

'_Toes pointed. Wrists up.__..'_

From that, Amber was able to do a lithe dancer's flip over the incoming gear, and when everything sped up once again, she bounced over two more obstacles. A few zig-zagging gears launched themselves at her, and it happened again. With pointed feet and rounded arms, the girl weaved through the glinting steel circles, spinning as she did.

'_There is is, the edge!'_

Everyone was certainly surprised when Amber finally cleared the boundary of the artefact, sprung over like a kangaroo, and landed right on top of Johan, her arms already primed to grab his throat. Johan reacted just as fast as any Persocom would. He moved his hammer to protect himself. However, she had planned for that.

Again, it looked as if time slowed to a crawl.

This time, Amber's nose started to bleed. All the same, she brought her palm and slapped his hammer on the side, pushing it away. At that, Johan widened his eyes in surprise. He was to correct himself, but, by the time he anticipated her next move, Amber had already grabbed him around the neck.

"Don't move," she warned, "move and you're dead." Her voice was low and sharp, like the hissing of a snake. She did not look at Dr. Lestat, who was quickly thinking of repositioning her gun.

Minako, who had seen parts of the impossible feat, could not give a logical explanation for it. She knew not of any time-based spells that were able to be activated wordlessly, so she could only stand there and speculate. She had the urge to message Yuzuki, but she wasn't sure if this Dr. Lestat would follow through on her promise or not. However, with Johan in Amber's clutches, she was rethinking that.

Amber's hand tightened around John's neck, but unlike a human, he did not gasp in pain or for lack of air. He leveled his gaze with the heiress and frowned. Johan could sense the electrical charges lingering around her fingers, but he said nothing. Apparently, during her escape from the Arcana of Time, she had prepared this delayed spell. She merely had to activate it, and he would most likely be fried beyond repair.

"Let us go, Lestat," said Amber, her stare full of ice. "Or I will kill your friend, here."

"How do I know you won't just kill him anyway?" responded the woman through gritted teeth.

"I'm not you; that's why."

Dr. Lestat gave her a long, curious look.

"Ha." The doctor let out a short laugh. "I see." She lowered her gun and closed her eyes. Melinda would have looked at the girl now threatening her friend, but she felt weary. Even using her artefact had been draining. Her arm was gone. Her son was gone. The Game probably would have brought him back to her, but at what cost?

This girl, this desperate girl was willing to kill her only friend left.

Her friends had not killed Melinda to save them. They could have easily done that.

But the warning of The Game rang true in her mind: '_Kill or be killed._'

She had been going about this all wrong. Dr. Lestat had claimed that she wanted her son back, but what she really wanted was to see him again. That wasn't the same. She wanted to laugh.

But the only things that came forth were bitter tears.

This girl, she had known from a young age. For the sake of this game, the doctor had betrayed her and her father.

For the sake of her son...she had become a murderer.

Was that any way to honor his memory? What kind of person would he have seen in her eyes if they met again?

'_I'm sorry, Shinji.'_

"Johan...Don't hurt these people." Melinda looked into her partner's eyes, raising the gun. She pressed the barrel of it to her temple. "Live well without me."

The Persocom broke free of Amber's grip so suddenly that she fell backwards in surprise. Johan reached out futility, to stop his Master, but...

"Good...bye..."

A gunshot rang out.

"No!"

The artefact disappeared in a soft glow of lights, leaving behind a Pactio card, now colored in greyscale.

Crying, Johan held the body to him as the others looked on, unable to speak or move.

Amber swore she could see the woman's soul drifting off into another dimension.

* * *

><p><em>I believed in seeing you<em>

_Again_

_May, June, July_

_Spring, Summer, Winter_

_Only waiting for that day_

_Remember?_

_Remember that?_

_...You probably don't_

* * *

><p><em><strong>If anyone would actually like to make that country that I wrote about, I'd be happy to hear ideas on how to start that. You can call me Kurokochōhime. Or not. Either way, I want to be queen of Rolitania.<strong>_

_**I feel like I just made this really anti-climactic.**_

_**Oh and to answer a question: Minako is special, but she's not "special". In this universe, all Persocoms have the ability to awaken their higher consciousness, given the right conditions. Or a certain bunny.**_

_**I'm glad I'm not on hiatus anymore, because I love you guys. The last chapter is already written, and I'm only building up to it. Bye bye for now.**_


	26. Chapter 24: Swimsuits and Tentacles

_**THIS IS THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE FIRST MASS POST. YOU MAY PROCEED.**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Time to take another breather, guys. That last chapter was very saddening for me, and I'm not sure why. The first set of lines is a slightly modified quote from "The Grey," one of my favorite songs. The rest I wrote myself.<strong>_

_**The companies I mention, PCN and Reishinka, are from Thanos of Titan's fanfictions 'Rebellion' and 'Coming to Terms.' The other companies, NEIS and KESS, are from x00r's fanfiction Electric Dawn. All are used with permission. Both are really good stories that I would recommend highly.**_

_**Looks like I'm going back to my old chapter lengths, huh? I really couldn't help it this time. I went a bit overboard.**_

* * *

><p><em>I'm standing on the edge of <em>

_Returning or just running away_

_I am letting myself look the other way_

_And the hardest part in all of this is_

_I don't think I know my way back home_

_Is it worth the journey, or do I let my heart settle here?_

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 24: Swimsuits and Tentacles<span>

_Hoards of helicopters encircled the area, with news crews looking upon the unfolding scene before them with growing curiosity. Some of them felt like they had seen something similar to this before, but something was preventing them from remembering._

_Two girls were clashing with each other. Blows were exchanged. Flashes of light arced back and forth like a surreal fireworks show, exploding in all directions._

_One of the girls plummeted to the ground, and someone's name echoed across the city._

* * *

><p>…<p>

Smiling softly to herself, Yuzuki watched her young master's sleeping face with subdued contentment. With his tiny palm resting beside hers, she recounted the beats of his heart.

32...33...34...

Every minute she would do this, and would wonder why she did.

How fearful she had been a week ago! He had been kidnapped, not just for his connection to Ms. Lee-Young, but for his uncanny resemblance to that deranged doctor's son, Shinji Lestat. Yuzuki frowned upon dwelling on the incident, but she still thanked whatever powers that be for his safe return. Yuzuki personally thanked everyone who had made it possible for him to make it back to her unharmed.

As an apology for putting them in danger, Amber had offered to bring them, all expenses paid, to a private resort reserved for magical folk. It was called the Hidden Triangle Resort, and the moment Amber had told them the name of the resort, Minoru accurately concluded the location of such a place, that is, in the Bermuda Triangle.

They had already been transported through the magical gateway from the Chi-On temple in Kyoto, which had been a short train ride from Tokyo. That had been last night, however.

It was already morning, and for eight whole hours, Yuzuki had knelt beside her Master's bedside, watching over him. Now, as the morning's early light painted the walls of the room, her worry seemed to melt away.

'_He's alright. Stop worrying… You're being neurotic.'_

"Good Morning, Min-kun!" shouted a familiar heiress.

Six people barged into his room.

At the sudden blast of noise, Minoru's eyes sprung open. Knowing full-well what was probably in store, he sighed and sat up in bed. Blinking away the last vestiges of sleep, he looked at the crew of happy-go-lucky beach-goers. He couldn't even sleep in, could he?

In one graceful motion, Yuzuki quickly rose to her feet. "Good Morning, everyone." She had been charging overnight, so she would have plenty of battery life left for today's activities. "I trust everyone slept and/or charged sufficiently?"

Varying degrees of agreement rung out, with the Persocoms, and Amber, agreeing the most heartily. On the other foot, Kojima looked like a dragon had trampled him. Likewise, Hideki looked slightly wrinkled, and was barely standing up. Junji, if he had been here, would have been in the same state, but he and Minako couldn't attend the getaway, due to the last report they had turned in. He was a Section Chief, after all, and this latest incident had turned into a Pretty Big Deal only an hour after it happened.

Junji's supervisor was unhappy that he had been "reckless" as the man had put it. Those types of situations were delicate, and if it had not been handled properly, Junji, Minako, or any of them could have ended up dead instead of that deranged doctor.

Miki Takeda, his mother, had not been happy, either. After missing dinner, he already wasn't on her good side. When he told her he had missed it because of work, she wasn't lenient on him because of that. How many times when he was attending Mahoukari Academy had she told him to get a more stable job, like becoming a Potions Master? He could have taught potions classes at any accredited magical facility. He had to go and choose magical law enforcement and study some Mundane profession, such as being a Psychologist. It also didn't help that his wife had encouraged him to take this path… Anyway, Miki made him promise to reschedule dinner, because, in all honesty, she was worried about her son.

At his request, Johan had been put into "stasis," and as such, he was currently slumbering beside Miimii and Fiifii in the basement of Gub Jogasaki.

For a moment, Junji wondered if they should have turned him in to the authorities for being an accomplice to a rouge mage. However, the magical government, although having proved that Persocoms had souls, would deal harshly with him, most likely without a fair trial. At the very most, he would be permanently decommissioned. After the few strange happenings over the years concerning magic, The Council wasn't going to take any more chances. In Tokyo alone, there had already been three major incidents where the existence of magic was almost revealed. In Mahokari there had been three incidents as well, and throughout the rest of Japan there had been twelve major incidents.

Luckily, though, Minoru and his friends did not have to worry about answering to The Council just yet. Thanks to the Takedas, the aftermath of the incident didn't make too much of a ripple within the Sector. He and Minako personally had vouched for everyone involved.

Anyway, at the moment Minoru was clawing at his beadspread, trying to keep himself from slipping off the mattress. Amber was already dragging the groggy boy out of bed while he was still in his blue-striped pajamas. Chii helped with this task as well, smiling brightly as she helped to hoist the young man onto their shoulders. Kotoko refused to partake in these shenanigans, and stood on the sidelines with a stoic expression, trying not to laugh.

Covering her lips with the tips of her fingers, Yuzuki chuckled at the enthusiastic girls' actions. They certainly were lively this morning, weren't they?

"You sure are the ladies' man, aren't you, Kokubunji?" said Kojima, yawning. He covered his mouth in modesty and took in the odd sight with some humor dancing in his eyes.

"Sh-shut up!" Minoru blushed, having been thoroughly roused by Amber and her accomplice. He didn't dare struggle, or they might have dropped him. They were marching in a circle around the room, chanting "To - the - beach, Min-kun! To - the - beach!"

So, of course, after this continued for quite some time, Minoru ordered them to put him down.

"Fine," said Amber—she gave a knowing look to Chii, "we'll put you down."

"Chii," agreed the blonde.

"Um..." began Minoru, not liking their overly mischievous tone. "Wait, I changed my—,"

The two girls hefted him onto the bed like a sack of flour.

Minoru landed face down on the plush yellow comforter, arms and legs sprawled out in all directions.

"Perfect score!" said Chii and Amber, both holding up peace signs.

"Pufujjjizagsg," mumbled Minoru, his mouth full of comforter.

Pursing her lips, Amber innocently cupped a hand around her ear. "Didn't quite hear that, Min-kun."

Minoru propped himself up onto his elbows. "Please leave," he ordered them, scowling deeply.

Amber began shaking her head. "I don't think I heard that, either. Maybe you should expla—,"

Whipping out his wand from beneath his pillow, Minoru responded in the form of a spell.

"FRIGERANS EXARMATIO!" he shouted, glowering bitterly.

A flash of blue light shot out from the star-shaped instrument. The two giggling forms of Chii and Amber dodged too slowly. Their clothes already had been snagged by the magic. Within two seconds, the cloth had begun to stiffen and freeze, with beads of ice gathering on the surface.

'_You little punk…,'_ thought Amber, smirking at his boldness.

"Dispelsatio!" Using the wand that she often stashed under her sleeves, Amber countered the spell before the desired effect could take place. However, Chii had no knowledge of such a spell, and so the petite Chobit stood there, tilting her head in vulnerable question.

Amber's spell dispersed the effects of Minoru's own, and her clothes immediately returned to normal. Chii had no such luck, and only a moment later her clothes completely turned to ice and shattered, leaving a stark naked girl standing in the middle of Minoru's room.

Hideki did not anticipate this sudden bout of nakedness, and desperately tried to cover his girlfriend up. He snatched the sheets off Minoru's bed so quickly that the youngster slipped backwards and fell onto the mattress, blinking away the spots in his vision.

In all the commotion, Yuzuki snatched away Minoru's wand, blushing deeply.

"Enough with the fighting," she said firmly, shooting Minoru a sharp look. "Lord Kokubunji will meet up with you all shortly, _after_ I speak to him. I apologize, Miss Chii, for his behavior." She bowed to the little Chobit who was hurriedly being wrapped in a makeshift toga.

"Chii is okay! Chii doesn't like clothes, anyway," said Chii, giving the sign for 'ok' before getting scooped up into Hideki's arms.

As she sighed in exasperation with her young ward, Yuzuki noticed Amber trying to sneak away. Right now, she wasn't about to let the instigator off with just a warning.

"_Vinctus Aquarius,"_ said Yuzuki, gently waving the wand in the direction of the escaping fiend. Circles of water materialized around Amber, and then squeezed upon her like ropes.

Gobsmacked, the heiress struggled. She didn't know Yuzuki could do that. When did she start learning magic? The others apparently wondered the same thing, because they all had their jaws touching the floor.

Even while tied up, the young heiress tried to inch away like a worm out of the door. This, however, was to no avail, as the irritated maid had walked over very briskly, grabbed hold of Amber's collar, and said in a mild tone:

"Not so fast, Ms. Lee-Young." Yuzuki tried not to frown, but managed to press her lips into a hard line. "You did instigate this, after all."

* * *

><p>...<p>

After nearly getting their ears talked off, Minoru and Amber joined the others down at breakfast, with Yuzuki following behind them closely. It had almost been a five minute lecture, but it had felt more like hours had gone by. When the trio finally met up with the others, Kotoko looked up from the book in her hands that she was occupying herself with, one entitled "I am Not a Thing."

Normally Kotoko would buy digital copies and speed-read, but this was not something she wanted to skim. It was not necessarily a new book, nor was it too hard for her to understand (the thought that it would be too difficult had humored her, actually), but after meeting Mrs. Takeda she felt at least a little obligated to look into her published works. The fiery woman had been a joy to speak to, and the last time they had spoken through email correspondence, Minako had given her some tips with how to deal with Kojima. Because of that, Kotoko was very glad to have asked for her email address when they had last met up.

Nevertheless. Kotoko was knocked out of this reverie, along with ten other thought processes, when Minoru and his entourage arrived. Without much fuss, the three of them sat down at the table that had been reserved beforehand for the large group.

Minoru was flushed with embarrassment, but he kept his expression decidedly neutral, while Amber was sporting a dour, pouty look.

"I apologize for what I did earlier," said Minoru dispassionately, in the respectful tone he reserved for his distant relatives. He was trying desperately not to recall the stunning image of Chii's naked body, but as the girl in question was sitting in front of him, he couldn't help it. His face reddened as he spoke. "Mr. Motosuwa and Miss Chii, I sincerely hope you forgive me. I promise not to try and purposefully strip anyone naked in the future."

He hadn't said anything about accidental magic, like what had happened in his duel with Amber, but the sentiment was good enough for now.

"You as well, Miss Lee-Young," insisted Yuzuki in a saccharine voice.

Amber pouted even more, if possible, and traced circles on the tablecloth in front of her.

"I am sorry," muttered the heiress.

"For _what_?" prompted Yuzuki. More and more she seemed like a stern mother scolding her child.

"I am sorry for invading Min-kun's personal space and instigating mischief much like what happened this morning. I promise not to force any of my friends into using magic against me in any malicious way."

"We apologize," said the both of them, bowing their heads so low that they almost touched the table.

Yuzuki looked pleased at this. She folded her hands and let the austere expression on her face melt away.

"So," said Hideki, looking up from his breakfast. "Does everybody have a good idea what we'll be doing today?"

"I have some plans," admitted Kojima, idly scanning his eyes across the table. "I figured that I should learn as much as I can about magic. This seems like just the place to do it." He gestured vaguely with his free hand to their surroundings.

"You mean I _coerced _you into trying to learn more," Kotoko interjected, still reading her book.

"You mean you _inspired_ me," he said, softening her correction.

"I had to _convince_ you first," insisted Kotoko, her voice hardening in response.

"…more like _force _me," he couldn't help but mutter, knowing full-well that she heard him.

Kotoko ignored those words and continued to read.

"Aside from that lovers' spat," began Amber slyly, peeking over the edge of her menu. However, Yuzuki raised a thoughtful eyebrow, and that quickly shut her down.

"Ahem." The girl coughed into her fist and looked intently at the list of breakfast entrées.

"I assume you have plans as well," Garrett finished for her, looking at Hideki and Chii as he did so. Chii was curiously poking the mass of scrambled eggs on the young man's plate and wondering why he would want to eat such things. She wanted to try what that was like at least once.

"Well I _did_ want to visit the beach," Hideki admitted meekly, now staring down into his plate. "But I'm up for anything you guys want to."

"But then you'll meet Charlie Sheen in a bathhouse and reenact scenes from Platoon," quipped Garrett, nudging Amber in the arm. She rolled her eyes but giggled all the same, agreeing that they should go to the beach, as she and Chii had been chanting earlier about that.

"What?" said Kojima, staring at the two odd ducks who seemed to be having a bout of hysteria. He had no idea who they were talking about, or what _'__Platoon'_ was.

"Nothing," said Amber, looking thoughtful. "Just an old video my sister sent to him once. I don't think it translated well into Japanese. Besides, Charlie Sheen is _way_ too old to do that anymore, anyway."

Hideki also didn't know who that 'Sheen' person was, but knowing how these two were huge media buffs, regardless of year or genre, they would probably giggle over anything they deemed as a hilarious reference.

After they had stopped giggling, Minoru admitted that he wouldn't mind accompanying Kojima with his magical research.

"Oh no," protested Dragonfly, stabbing one of the sausage links on his plate and shaking his head. "I don't need you poking your nose in my project." He wagged the breakfast delectable back and forth disapprovingly.

Shocked that he had been rejected, the young boy rested his chin in his free hand and looked over the menu for breakfast.

"We'll go to the beach with you four, if that's okay?"

Minoru's question was directed more towards Yuzuki than the others, but when he saw her nod in approval, he cracked a smile.

Hideki wasn't too fond of water, but Chii did enjoy it very much. He did like the sun very much, though, and intended to lounge on the sand, slathered in suntan lotion. Speaking of lotion…his eyes wandered to Chii. His petite girlfriend would need to use that special gel to protect her from the saltwater, didn't she?

* * *

><p>...<p>

Before parting ways after breakfast, they all stopped by the resort's gift shop. It had an interesting name, _Eva's Elysium,_ and looked quite quaint. Somehow the atmosphere within the store had a higher concentration of mana than in the resort, which had an energizing effect on most mages, and within minutes everyone had gathered by the checkout counter carrying several items of interest.

Minoru was the first to arrive at the register, his hands full of merchandise. He was closely followed by the rest of the vacationers, who also had a variety of items. The young prodigy had no less than twelve items, including: a potions making kit for novices, a tiny cauldron, a wand that was made of wood, two spellbooks, a good luck amulet, and a strange top-like object called a sneakoscope.

Trailing behind the boy-genius, Hideki carried two medium-sized bottles of protective gel for Persocoms, as he couldn't afford much else. Chii had a pinwheel that let off multicolored sparks of magic when blowed upon.

Kojima had several books on spell theory that could shrink down to the size of erasers for easy travel. Beside him, Kotoko had a pair of beginner's wands, both of which the store clerk helped them to pick out according to their birthdays. For Kotoko it was more like her activation date than her manufacture date, though.

Amber had a large assortment of magically-infused sweets, and Garrett had a stack of questionable magazines that blurred the images of the contents when in the presence of minors. His partner gave him a slightly disgusted look for his choice, but beneath that expression was a slightly thoughtful air.

When Amber noticed Minoru and Kojima whipping out their wallets, though, the girl cleared her throat loudly and pouted.

"I thought I said this was an all-expenses-paid trip," she protested, dashing her items on the counter beside Minoru's own pile of things. "You too, Hideki and Kojima, put your things up here, too." Slapping the counter, she motioned for them to hand over the items they wanted.

The shopgirl looked amused, but said nothing as she fiddled with her pointed hat and continued smiling.

"It feels a little strange, that's all," admitted Minoru, shrugging. He never lacked money, and for that reason, it felt odd for someone to foot the bill for anything. Hideki also felt awkward, since he was quite the opposite of Minoru, and normally he wouldn't ask for financial help. Kojima, however, had no such pride. He put his items on the counter without any fuss, and motioned for Kotoko to do the same.

Scowling, she complied, but not before saying that he shouldn't take advantage of Miss Lee-Young in such a way.

"I'm not taking advantage," Kojima countered, "I'm accepting her generous proposal."

Hideki conceded as well, and Chii followed suit. He squirmed when he placed them there, though.

Amber nearly snorted with laughter but she kept her face open and friendly. "Take advantage all you want," she said breezily.

Everyone felt even more awkward, then. Kojima looked like he had swallowed an entire orange in one gulp. Minoru had a hand covering his face in shame. Hideki was now a living tomato. The other girls, excluding Chii, just rolled their eyes.

"Is that an invitation?" Garrett piped up hopefully, giving her a very devious smile.

Realizing her slip of the tongue, Amber blushed. She coughed and turned to the shopgirl, wondering if she should put those magazines back.

"What currencies do you take?"

Smiling despite the strange visitors, she nodded and said "We take all of the major ones, such as American dollars, Japanese Yen, Euros, Pounds, and even Galleons."

At the mention of Galleons, Hideki perked up.

"Aren't those fictional?" He said this in an awestruck voice. If she wasn't joking, then the book they had translated in school was...

The shopgirl, Rachelle, as her nametag said, was baffled by such a question.

"Why would they be? Britain uses three currencies the last I checked."

As Hideki picked up his jaw from discovering the wonders of goblin gold and double bluffs in fiction, Amber stifled a giggle. She whipped out a clear plastic card. ADiamond-level card was rare among even the rich these days, and handed it to Rachelle, who was still confused from the young man's question.

"Do you take MasterCard?"

* * *

><p>...<p>

While Kojima scuttled off with Kotoko to do some "research," the others made a beeline straight for the shoreline. Something about the sand and sea was alluring to humans and Persocoms alike, and no one bothered to argue that it was indeed a beautiful sight.

Other sentient beings either liked it because it was pretty and fun to play in, or avoided it because they were exceedingly fearful of the dangers associated with the sea.

Earlier, before they departed from Gub Jogasaki, Amber had to vehemently shake off the urge to pack a one-piece swimsuit. Garrett never even looked at her anymore, and it honestly made her jealous. Why, this morning she practically heard the servos in his neck whip around to stare at Chii, that lecherous beast of a man!

Not that his servos would make much noise. They were some of the most advanced joints money could buy, and designed so similarly to human joints that under x-ray that at the airport some of the security officers had been baffled by the artificial muscle fibres surrounding his skeleton.

They also had been startled by the gyroscope and other systems, but his ears at the time had explained everything.

Still, Amber was jealous and she knew it.

It pissed her off something awful.

On this trip, though, she was bringing out the big guns. Not quite literally, but she was _definitely_ upping her game.

His third favorite swimsuit was the traditional school swimsuit. His second was the racerback. However, Amber knew for sure that Garrett could not resist a good bikini, held only by strings to keep it on. It fit snugly when she tied it onto her, and Chii even gave her an encouraging thumbs up.

It was even all black; the final death blow.

This time that they were going to the beach, Chii chose her own swimsuit, much to Hideki's delight and misfortune. The only saving grace he could see was that she was completely waterproof, so he didn't have to worry about that.

As for him, he couldn't say the same, so the young man merely sat on the beach under the umbrella, watching his girlfriend frolic in the shallow waves.

Yuzuki had been modest, at least, and had enough sense to pick a plain pastel green onepiece. Otherwise, her ample figure by itself would have enchanted more than half of the beach-goers there.

As Chii and Amber skipped merrily in the water, communing with the ocean, the waves were subdued and calming. The heiress had suggested they have a contest to see who could swim out the furthest, even though she was confident that Chii or Yuzuki would win. They had been standing in waist deep water, playing with the cool liquid, occasionally splashing each other and giggling childishly. Notably, though, Yuzuki still managed to get some lecherous stares from both genders, somehow.

However. Something beneath the surface of the semi-tranquil water was drawing closer. It was dark and twisted, and approaching at an insane pace.

Chii was the first one snatched up by the awful, slimy tentacle.

* * *

><p>...<p>

It was a few minutes into the strange phenomenon that Kojima strolled over with a bag of popcorn and looked up. He was taking a break from his research, and had felt puckish, due to the drain of mana from his system, so he stopped by the snack bar on his way to meet Hideki and the rest. Dragonfly popped a few pieces of the buttery, salty snack into his mouth and let out a small "hmmm" of appreciation.

"Quite the show, isn't it?" said Kojima.

Normal mages wouldn't have said that. If the shocked people on the beach were of any indication, then a normal mage would have ran away. Even if they weren't frightened by the occurrence, a normal person would not have said that, either.

Fortunately for them, Kojima was the furthest possible thing from normal.

"Want some?" remarked the weirdo, offering his snack to the three young men who all declined.

"I would eat, if I could eat, a good many more things than that popcorn, there," replied Garrett, licking his lips in spite of himself; his eyes not fixed on the food, but somewhere far more scandalous. It took Minoru all of three seconds to follow his stare and connect the dots. The younger boy wrinkled his nose in response and sighed. Hideki, likewise, gathered a healthy amount of color on his cheeks.

Kotoko smacked the both of them for saying such things, but honestly, she couldn't think of any way, other than alerting any nearby lifeguards, to help. She hadn't even succeeded in trying out spells with Kojima, so that was out.

The lifeguards were panicking, though. They had their wands or staves in their hands already, but all of them were too frightened of the monster to help. This had happened only once before, and even then, a _teacher_ had showed up and put them to shame.

Three young women were ensnared in a mass of writhing tentacles coated in slime. It snaked around their calves and ankles; binding them and leaving them helpless.

"Aahn, anhaand me this instant!" ordered Amber, blushing deeply. Without much luck, she tried to pry away the twisting appendage away from wriggling to the inside of her thighs. The creepy things were exploring places she would rather they leave alone.

Chii and Yuzuki weren't thrashing_ quite_ as much as Amber currently was, but they certainly weren't happy about this either. All three of them were struggling to free themselves from the masses of pink tentacles encircling them. The tentacles belonged to some unseen monster beneath the waves, and from the questionable grunts sounding out, Amber was being accosted the most.

"This is quite unpleasant," remarked Yuzuki, frowning. It didn't seem like this monster wanted to actually harm them, but the unwanted sensations flowing into her Neural Net were beginning to make her blush. On top of that, Minoru was watching. The young man was covering his eyes in order to be polite, but he still heard all of Miss Lee-Young's protests, all of which were hardly innocent sounds.

"Chii," agreed Chii, shaking her head. She didn't like this either. One of the tentacles had been working its way into her swimsuit, and despite the little Persocom's great strength, these suction-cups and tentacles were stronger.

It was then that Hideki had a startling epiphany.

"Her reset button!"

If Garrett had been enjoying the sight before, he was now doing the opposite. What Hideki had said had made him recall a very specific trait about Chii. From what Dr. Mihara's notes said about his daughter, it seemed that he had put her reset button in a very _inconvenient_ place. Moreover, if Amber was an example of what was going to happen to Yuzuki and Chii, then they had to act fast.

Garrett predicted that he wouldn't be able to use his superhuman strength to disable the creature, due to the factors of the water and slippery nature of tentacles. But that didn't stop him from formulating a plan.

Without hesitation, he ran towards the beach umbrella and knelt near the giant bag Amber had asked him to carry for them. Rummaging through the tubes of protective gel and sunscreen, Garrett searched for something to help. Within five seconds he had located the item—Amber's wand, and grabbed it.

Now Garrett was no-good with spells—always was. He was more into fighting head-on. So that's why, running back to the shore's edge, he yelled his Master's name and chucked the wand.

Hearing her name, she looked to the source of it. As he calculated, it soared into her open palm, and with her attention directed towards that, thanks to Garrett, she gripped it readily.

Lightning spells were a no-no. Fire spells would fizzle. They were being held above water, so water was definitely out. There was one thing that she could try.

In the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of the guys. A certain blue-haired boy gave her an idea.

Amber aimed the wand towards the water, despite her shaking arm.

"FRIGIDARE!"

A beam of white light shot into the water. Like a drop of food-coloring, the mana dispersed into the water in all directions in a colorful plume. It froze the patch of sea below them, despite the salt, in a perfectly round circle of skateable ice nearly twenty-five feet in diameter.

The tentacles dropped them almost instantly afterwards, as the creature's main body was trapped in the ice. In their descent, Amber flicked her wand, casting a small cushioning charm on Chii and Yuzuki. She couldn't point it at herself in time, but realized with embarrassment as she fell into Garrett's open arms, that she should have cast it on the ice itself.

"Woah, diet, much?" said Garrett, holding her as easily as one would a doll. This earned him a few solid punches from Amber. He knew most of her weight was in her robotic legs, so he pretty much was asking for it.

"You idiot," she shouted. "Why didn't you act sooner?"

"I was enjoying the show, thanks."

Another barrage of punches.

"You—," _punch, _"could-have," _punch-punch_, "just sliced through the monster with your sword!" _punch, punch, slap_.

Just a few meters away, Minoru and the others went to help Chii and Yuzuki to their feet as they recovered from the strange ordeal. Now Minoru began to feel his wits return to him, and took out his wand. With a modified cleansing charm, he waved his wand in the direction of Yuzuki and Chii. Within seconds, the slime was purged from their skin. Moments later, Hideki wrapped his arms around his dearest and vowed to get better at swimming. Yuzuki also embraced her young master and thanked him for cleaning them up. As the young men and Kotoko fret over the two of them, Chii wrinkled her brow, recalling Hideki's earlier concern.

"Actually…Mama removed Chii's button."

All activity stopped. Everyone was now staring at Chii.

"..."

"WHAT?!" exclaimed Minoru, Hideki, Garrett and Amber. When or how did such a thing even happen? How did it happen?

Most importantly, in Hideki's case, he had a glimmer of hope shining behind his eyes. Even if Dr. Hibiya hadn't told him that she had done this, it was a huge load off of his mind.

Meanwhile, Kojima looked forlorn. Frozen in place, he stared at the reunion in shock. By his inaction, he had almost "killed" another person that time too, hadn't he? Suddenly his popcorn didn't taste so good.

* * *

><p><em>This dark side of my heart is<em>

_Just beating so violently_

_It's all right, but I can't help but cry_

_I don't know what to do_

_I don't want to die_

_But I have to die_

_Otherwise, what did all of this mean?_

_Am I doomed to be a martyr?_


	27. Chapter 25

_**MASS POST WARNING: GO BACK AND READ THE FIRST CHAPTER I POSTED, PLEASE. **_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Hey everybody, it's been a while. Hope you all have a good day. Check out my books if you get the time, please. Links are on my profile.<strong>_

_**I feel like writing an original story using Amber and Garrett, but I'd have to file off the serial numbers, it would seem. I'd also change magic to Esper powers. Which would mean no Yuuko, no Chobits, and no Puella Magi. PM me if you think it's a good idea.**_

_**This time, all the poems are mine.**_

* * *

><p><em>I'm fast asleep,<em>

_I can't breathe,_

_Somebody help me_

_I want to see,_

_I want to be_

_Something that isn't me_

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 25: I Think, Therefore I am Mad<span>

_A million little pieces of crystal came raining down upon their heads. A single word was cast into the confusion, and it stopped the shards in their tracks. It was then the whole world stopped. Their eyes met, and he could feel the power surging through both of them._

* * *

><p>...<p>

Garrett stared at the invitation, wondering if it was a practical joke or not. He had been friends with her so many years, and he knew her well, so it being a prank was not impossible. The young man was keenly aware of how wealthy his friend was, as he was well-off himself, but the level of her status had not sunk in until now.

His heart thrummed in his chest as faster than a hummingbird's wings. Anxiety washed down his spine in waves of cold water as he looked over the invitation once more looked to confirm its existence:

_Garrett Ravensdale_

_You are cordially invited to:_

_The 20th annual Moonlight Gala,_

_Hosted by Gala Computers Incorporated_

A little redundant, considering the homophones. But from the curved silver lettering to the official seal of Gala Inc., a butterfly, (why a butterfly, though?), it looked 99.98% authentic. Still, this was a gala, a white-tie affair—he would be expected to dress up for it.

Giving the invitation one last forlorn look, he threw himself backwards onto his bed, holding the folded cardstock above his head. Would this be the first in a series of tuxedos?

Earlier, when he had showed his parents, Garrett had not gotten much in the way of advice. He was already a sophomore in high school, and he couldn't make a move on the girl he liked, but here she was, taking the first step. Alicia Ravensdale merely gave her son a cryptic smile and said that if he needed to buy a tuxedo, she would take his measurements. His father, Handel, had promptly gained a thoughtful look, ushered his son to the side, slipped something into the young man's palm, and winked. Before leaving, Handel suggested that he should at least 'be safe', whatever that meant!

As incensed as he was, Garrett _did_ put the object into his wallet...just in case.

"Chell," whimpered Garrett, turning on his side to look at his desk, where his Persocom stood, recharging. She was about as tall as a baby-doll. Her hair was jet black and braided into a ponytail. In the middle of her head was a big red bow that concealed her petite connector cables. A schoolgirl outfit, complete with peacoat, plaid skirt, and brown loafers, was what she wore. When Garrett called her name, her lids opened to reveal a pair of playful silvery grey eyes.

From the realistic design to the delicate features, she was definitely a Gala Inc. model. She was a mid-range model in both price and size: smaller than the full-sized ones, yet bigger than both the keychain models and the ones no bigger than a beanie-baby. As Model 211 of the Fuji series, she ran on OS X Silver Monarch, and was barely out of the box for over a week. The previous week had been his birthday, and although he had declined a party, his friends and family somehow succeeded in sneaking presents into his bedroom.

Chell was one of those presents. He knew exactly from who she had come from, but the cute little 'com was not unwanted. She actually was the _only_ present he would have ever asked for.

For the past year he had been saving his already-ample allowance to buy his own palm-sized Persocom. It would have been a simple model, but with little customization, he would have been set.

Apparently a love for circuitry, faux skin, and synthetic fluid ran deep in the blood of the Ravensdale clan. This wasn't even counting his cousins or even his grandparents. His father _worked_ for Gala, in Research and Development, and they had a complete lab in the basement of their house, where Garrett could do the customization of the Persocom he had planned to buy.

His mother worked for the same company, but in the PR department, as well as Advertising. In addition to help release statements to the press, she was quite obsessed with making the Persocoms look as cute as possible for the spreads in the latest tech magazines. The month earlier, they released smart watches to pair with Persocoms, and it had been her best campaign to date.

Then there was Garrett. The machines sang to him. It was so strange how drawn he was to Persocoms. Normal people who had little knowledge of computers couldn't make heads or tails of code, but he read through the strings as if he was reading a children's book in the library. His father often let him tinker in the lab, and with fairly good results.

Garrett sat up and walked to the desk, where Chell gazed up at the young man, inspecting him. She had come preconfigured, and there was no surprise there. This also meant her personality settings were set as well. She was perceptive by nature, and was prone to stating harsh truths, but he did enjoy her company very much. Often he would wonder why he saw them as people, instead of how others of his age would view them, but he didn't dwell on that thought much to care about their ignorant views.

"Papa, you seem distraught," mused Chell dreamily. "Perhaps you should tell me about it?" She lifted her arms up as she spoke and looked into his eyes in expectation.

Smiling, he picked up the Persocom. She was easy to handle, and it was much like cradling a baby in his arms, except she was far more durable and looked like a miniature person instead. He also liked the preset designation she assigned to him, for some reason. At first it had been startling, but after two days he had adjusted to it fully. Upon first hearing it, he suspected that this was Amber's work, but as of yet he didn't want to change it.

"Well, it's about Amber," he began, holding the girl and pacing around the room.

"You mean Mama?"

He tried not to let that get to him, but it made him blush all the same. This was _definitely_ her doing.

"Yes," he continued, "and she invited me to this fancy party, and I don't know what to think about it!"

It took her all of two seconds to realize what he was talking about. "The Moonlight Gala? You're worried about **that**, Papa?"

"How did you—," realizing the obvious, he sighed mid-sentence, "you looked it up on the web, didn't you?"

Blinking, Chell said pressed her lips together and said nothing, which was definitely a yes. All she had to do was search for major events happening in California within the next month. The first relevant event was the gala, which was connected to Gala Inc., which was connected to Amber.

"Cheeeell!" He whined, plopping onto the bed. Chell hopped from his arms and landed on the fluffed out comforter with a tiny _floof_. "This is serious. What if I mess up?"

She thought for a moment before responding.

"You're only human, Papa," remarked Chell, sitting on his pillow. She put her head in her hands and pouted unapologetically.

"Gee, thanks," Garrett intoned, unamused. "I suppose** that's** supposed to cheer me up?"

Chell tilted her head to the side. "Perhaps. But I just don't see why you're so stressed out to begin with."

'_Of course you don't. You're always so laid-back about these type of things.'_

"It's going to be fun, I think!" The tiny Persocom exclaimed in excitement, wagging a tiny index finger. "Mama wouldn't try to hurt or embarrass you on purpose. At least... not where others would see."

She had several points, there.

"That _is_ true, I suppose." He closed his eyes, placed his hands behind his head, and laid his head on his palms.

"Now," said Chell, her eyes flashing faintly, "shall I order you a tuxedo? Will you rent or buy?" She already was searching several made-to-order tuxedo companies, measuring him visually, picking out certain styles amongst the selection, and checking the dates of arrival for shipping. Ever since Safari dot com had started making their own apparel, the normal retailers were absolutely livid. They were looking the most reasonable out of anyone.

Garrett knew that look. Chell was getting ahead of him, and he could tell. The excitement in her voice was clue enough, but when he noticed the little flashes of light in her eyes, he had confirmed it.

"Er...my mum said she would measure me for that, actually."

She pouted a little but nodded. "I'll be waiting for grandma's measurements, then."

The young man cringed at hearing his mother being called 'grandma'. It was even weirder than his designation of 'papa'. Sighing, Garrett kneaded the bridge of his nose. This was _truly_ like having a child, wasn't it?

'_I am not going to change her personality settings.'_

A little hand cupped the side of his face. "Are you okay, Papa? You're looking quite pale."

'_I __**will not**__ change her personality profile.'_

* * *

><p>...<p>

Three awkward kisses and two peeping incidents, one for each side—that's what they had progressed to. Well, aside from her _still _launching him onto his back in karate class... That last tournament should have made his parents wary, not cause them to clap in appreciation when their only son lost to his best friend who happened to be a girl.

Thinking about it made his back ache, still.

Now he was standing in the foyer of his house, his fringe slicked away from his face, wearing what was definitely going to be the first of many tuxedos.

Albert, an older gentleman with slightly graying hair, had rang their doorbell little under a minute ago, and was now presenting the mischievous heiress to his delighted parents. They had briefly met before, but that was in a more informal setting, after karate tournaments. She had been wearing her _kata _then, and perspiring greatly. Each of them also had caught glimpses of her when they went to company functions, such as the one they were going to, but the CEO and his family always was surrounded by such a thick ring of higher ranked employees that the Ravensdales could scarcely meet with him. Usually, though, Garrett did not attend these functions, and would often be left at home to his own devices.

"It is a pleasure to see you, Doctors Ravensdale."

The girl curtsied, picking up the hem of her outfit delicately.

Her dress was not what someone would call an 'evening gown'. Evening gowns usually stuck close to the body, they often were coated in shimmering jewels, and of course, the obligatory leg slit to expose one leg up to the thigh. She was wearing an all-black dress that nearly swept the floor, and it was cut in a modernized Victorian style. Instead of white gloves, which, for a gala, were a must, she had black satin gloves. On her feet were black heels, with delicate butterfly ornaments of the same color attached to the front of them. Her normally curly hair was straightened for once, and pinned up in a minimal style. A simple string of pearls rested around her neck, with a pair of matching earrings fastened in her ears.

'_Yes,'_ he thought,_ 'she looks more like princess than an heiress.'_

"The pleasure is ours, Miss Lee-Young," said Handel, taking her hand and kissing it gently.

This earned him a look of daggers from Garrett, who visibly bristled at his greeting. The young man's ears were burning bright red.

Afterwards, Alicia shook Amber's hand firmly, her eyes glinting. So this was the forward girl who had been pursuing her son, eh? Yes, Alicia had seen this young woman several times before, and each time she saw her, it was like seeing a younger version of herself. Miss Lee-Young had the same ambitious spirit, and Alicia hoped Garrett wouldn't lose the opportunity to be with her when it was presented.

"Charmed," said Alicia, echoing her husband's sentiment. She was in a bright red gown with white shimmering sparkles smattered on the fabric like stars in the night sky. Her lips were cherry red, matching her dress and shoes, and her hair was in a modified French braid that was pinned up to keep the hair off her back. The gown was cut low near the back, exposing a nice crop of elegant marble white skin.

And, of course, Garrett and his father were wearing tuxedos. However, Garrett was wearing a slightly retro cut with a split back. It made him look a bit like he stepped out of a time machine from way back when, but with the finishing touches on the outfit it looked more modern than at first glance.

After a somewhat forced bit of stiff small-talk, they were almost ready to leave.

"You two have fun, now," said Handel, all but pushing his son towards his friend. "Don't stay out too late."

"We're going to the same party, Dad," muttered Garrett.

"But we _are_ taking different rides," his father shot back, quicker than a whip. His smug smile was the same one he had sported when Garrett told him of the invitation.

Garrett really did **not** want to think about his father's words too deeply. It would give him permanent damage, he was sure.

However, he made the mistake of reading his father's lips, and flushed red all over again. What kind of father was he to tell his son to 'go get lucky'? He hoped Amber hadn't—oh, great. She was stifling laughter and giving his father the 'ok' sign. This didn't bode well for him at all.

Either his mother had ignored it, or she wasn't taking it seriously, but either way she didn't comment on it. She did mention how important it was that they didn't stay out late.

"All the same, you need to remember that a lack of sleep will stunt your growth, so get back soon, alright?" Alicia Ravensdale said this firmly, shooting her son a stern look. "And if I even catch you _smelling_ some champagne tonight, I will ground you until you're twenty-one. We're not in Australia anymore, young man. Do you understand?"

"Yes, mum," he said quickly, trying not to meet her cutting green eyes.

"Shall me depart, then, young masters?" cut in Albert, just in time.

Savoring the pleading look that Garrett was giving her, Amber smiled and nodded swiftly. "I believe so, Albert."

And so they went.

* * *

><p><strong>Present day...<strong>

So after a somewhat relaxing week in the Bermuda Triangle, the conquering heroes came back to Tokyo feeling more refreshed than they left. After the 'tentacle incident', Amber had been in a bad mood. She avoided the ocean as if it were made of acid instead of water. Chii also seemed wary of the beach after that, but she eventually returned to the water before their trip ended. It also had taken Yuzuki some time to trust the water again, but submitting a formal complaint to the resort owners, her mind was set at ease. Miss Lee-Young had contributed many scathing words to the lengthy letter, and warned them of the dangers of having such terrible security when it came to dangerous magical beasts. Having enchantments woven into the resort's wards to prevent malicious entities such as that attacked them were a minimum requirement, in Amber's opinion.

In other news, cram school had been very easily managed, thanks to Garrett's efforts. Motosuwa usually would struggle through his subjects, but thanks to his mechanical friend, he had gradually improved. Emphasis on 'gradually'. Hideki's earlier methods of studying had been quite inefficient, as the blue-eyed trickster had pointed out.

Toady was a dazy, hazy, humid day that seemed to drag on for too long. The air conditioner helped a lot, but for the cram school was only working halfway. In the classrooms, it was fine, but the system had failed in the hallways. However, Hideki and his class needed to copy worksheets for several subjects. No one would volunteer to help, so there was only one person for the job.

The echo of footsteps pitter-pattered down the hallway at a brisk pace.

Several stacks of papers crisscrossed over each other lurched dangerously from side to side.

A bright red skirt bounced in an even rhythm.

A flash of blue and white stripes from beneath that skirt often peeked into view, in rhythm with the footsteps.

As she approached the classroom door, Amber was thankful that she had not begun to sweat. However, if she panted too hard it would be a giveaway. That isn't to say that Persocoms didn't pant. They did. When they overheated, that is. She just couldn't do it for very long, or it would be a giveaway. After a minute or so she would have to try to either breathe through her nose normally or excuse herself.

Amber opened the door while juggling the papers and stepped inside the classroom. A heavenly gust of air wafted down her back, and she approached the teacher's desk at a moderate stride.

Everyone else had been reviewing a chapter in their English textbooks, but Ms. Shimizu was grading papers. When Amber entered, the teacher didn't even look up. However, she didn't take long to issue another order.

"Pass out the worksheets, please," said the teacher not very kindly. It was subtle, but the distaste beneath the monotone was apparent.

Playing the role perfectly, Amber turned on her heel very precisely and made her way down the aisles, handing out worksheets as she strode. She was still panting lightly, but still not sweating, as Garrett noticed. He had been watching her the second she came back from her errand. It was a long walk from copy room, he knew. The heat only made it worse. Surely, by now she was tired.

'_She could be developing heat exhaustion,_' thought Garrett to himself. He frowned, looking over the girl in concern. Groaning within himself, Garrett suppressed every urge he had to hurt his teacher. Running through all the complications that would arise if he lost his cool, he forced his voice into an even tone.

"She's overheating, Sensei. Please, let me pass them out."

Ms. Shimizu wouldn't have that, though. "I'm sure she'll cool down soon enough. Besides, she already has the papers."

"Oh, I'm fine," said Amber brightly. "I'm just a _little_ overheated. I'll cool down in a moment. The temperature of the room has helped greatly with that."

Shinbo looked very uncomfortable at that moment. Even from across the room, Garret could spot that. The downcast eyes, the stifled grimace, even the slight way he hunched hi shoulders was suspicious. What was that boy hiding? Why did their teacher's response make him subconsciously react?

Still continuing her work, Amber walked down the aisles. The entire week she had not been thanked for any of her work, whether it was copying worksheets or fetching other teachers, or this. Garrett, of course, had to email the other teachers certain messages, since Amber couldn't do it, but even that still went on unthanked.

When she was finished with her assignment, Amber sat down beside Garrett for a well-needed rest. Since a minute ago, Amber had stopped panting, but now that the girl was off her legs, she looked _wobbly_.

"Are you alright?" he asked in English, placing the back of his hand on her forehead. The sensors on his skin told him that it burned a solid 103 degrees—far too warm for a human. She was putting up a good show, but this was getting dangerous.

"My internal temperature had spiked from so much exertion, but I am fine now." A placating smile emerged on her face in response.

They sat in silence for over a minute. As they sat beside one another, Garrett took out a piece of loose-leaf paper from his binder and scribbled a quick message, still in English. With a single finger he nudged it in Amber's direction.

**Should we leave early? Are you going to be okay?**

Before Amber could write a response, someone approached their table.

"Oh, Hideki," said Garrett softly, noting the young man who had walked up to them. "What brings you here?"

In Hideki's hand was an opaque white bottle. He was fidgeting in place and seemed a little embarrassed. "I mean, on days like this I give Chii some coolant. So...here."

It sloshed when he handed it to Garrett, who nodded and took the bottle. Garrett, in turn, gave it to Amber, who sipped the water meekly. She gave a grateful smile to Hideki, and thanked him for the drink.

Within fifteen minutes, they left cram school for the day.

* * *

><p>...<p>

After class finally finished, Shinbo gathered his things much faster than usual, Hideki noted. Normally he would take his time, but in an increasingly frequent occurrence, Shinbo was acting unusually skittish.

With concern in his stare, Hideki noticed the strange look in his friend's eyes. "I-is something wrong?"

"Not particularly," answered Shinbo immediately. "I'm just busy lately."

Normally, Hideki didn't pry into anyone's matters, so his mind give it much thought. However, he hadn't really gotten to speak with Shinbo outside of class since he moved out of Gub Jogasaki. Recently he was able to have more free-time since becoming friends with Amber and Garrett, due to certain circumstances. He also had gotten a raise at work, and it probably was due to that little good luck charm he bought at the resort right before they left.

"Well, hey, if you're not too busy after school, then would you mind getting a bite to eat with me?"

He looked pensive for a moment.

After some spent deliberation, he agreed. He had the day off from work today, so it was fine. On top of the staff meeting she had to go to, Takako had to work late tonight, so tonight Hiromu had some freedom.

Ten minutes later, they were sitting in a quaint little restaurant that served the best burgers this side of Tokyo. Incidentally, both of them had been so hungry after cram school that they had ordered two of the largest burgers on the menu. They ate in silence for about two minutes before they felt full enough to resume their conversation.

"I haven't really got to hang out with you much lately, since you got married." Picking up his fizzing Roca-cola, Hideki took a long draw from the glass. Beer would have been better with burgers, but the last time he drank alcohol he overdid it. "So what's new?"

Not too comfortable with the question, Shinbo stirred the dregs of his strawberry lemonade. "It's been alright. Things have been fine. Different, but fine."

"Isn't that the truth? Same here. These past few months have been unbelievable." Hideki shook his head from remembering the strange events he'd witnessed. "Anyway, where do you plan on going to school next year? We can't be 'almost college students' forever."

Hideki was studying his buns off, in fact. Amber had given him a deal, and he took it the first chance he got. Even if he had gotten past Tokyo U's hellish entrance exam, he wouldn't have the money to pay for the tuition by himself. His grades from high school hadn't been enough to give him a scholarship, so…he couldn't pass up the gift unicorn who had offered him such a sweet agreement.

Shinbo chuckled deep within his throat. "I don't know. I was leaning towards Tokyo U, but now I'm not so sure. I've been taking some extra language lessons, and Takako and I were thinking about moving to another country."

This was the first time Hideki had heard of these plans. "Really? What country would be your first pick?"

"Korea."

Hideki sputtered on his drink. Coughing, he wiped his mouth and gaped at Shinbo.

"Korea? America, I could see, Hong Kong, maybe, but _Korea_? Honestly?"

Sighing, Shinbo shrugged. "Yeah, I mean, we were thinking about a change of scenery. I used to have a best friend who moved here from Korea, and she had taught me some of the basics. Ever since I was young I've wanted to go, and I was just happy that Takako agreed. I could even register for the exam to Chun Ha, that's like the Korean twin of Tokyo U, and get my degree there. I, er, plan to major in language, maybe become a linguist or a translator."

"That's amazing, Shinbo." He had known Shinbo for only as long as he had been in Tokyo, but Hideki had not heard any of this before.

'_Whatever floats your boat, I guess,'_ he thought.

"I'm sure you'd have to download a lot of software to help you study, am I right? You think Sumomo could handle so much info? Knowing her, though, she would enjoy Korea; even my dingy apartment fascinated her. Come to think of it, I met a little unit that reminds me of her. In fact—,"

"I... had to give up Sumomo."

Shocked, Hideki blinked repeatedly.

"You did _what_?"

Looking grieved within himself, the young man stared into his empty cup.

"I mean, I came home one day and she wouldn't start up. Takako said she had no idea why Sumomo wasn't working, so I took her to the repair shop. When the owner looked her over, she said that her AI-crystal was damaged. I talked it over with Takako, and she suggested I sell her for parts and get a less expensive model."

Looking at his friend, Hideki began to feel sick. Scrolling his eyes around, he couldn't think of anything to say in response to that. Nothing polite, that is. The only way he could think of to get away was to make up an excuse.

But he didn't really have to think of one, because an excuse just walked through the café's door.

"Kotoko!"

'_Thank goodness.'_

He waved to her, and, rolling her eyes, she sauntered over. She had come to pick up an order that Kojima had called in, since he was working on some magical/mechanical monster of a project, and couldn't afford to take a break at the moment.

"Motosuwa? Nice to see you again," she droned impatiently.

"Here to pick up something for Yoshikuji?" Hideki looked back at his human friend. "Oh, sorry, Shinbo, this is Kotoko."

Recognizing the name, Shinbo nodded. "You told me about her before, yes. Nice to meet you—wait..." The young man looked her over, but became quite puzzled at this point. "Didn't you say she was a _mobile_ unit?"

"If you're referring to my old body," she pointed to the tiny Persocom hanging from her dark purple purse, "it's right there." Sure enough, the unit that used to house her consciousness dangled from a bright silver chain, jingling due to the bells that tied the dark purple hair. The old AI crystal had been fried in the transfer, when the system image of her personality profile was etched into her new body. Most Persocoms had a main AI crystal, in addition to a CPU and several neuropathic pathways that contained the operating system. The AI crystal was essentially the 'soul' of the machine, while the CPU was the mind.

"Anyway, I almost forgot; I promised to meet Yoshikuji and Smith later on for that project we were working on. Mind if I tag along back to his place?"

Kotoko knew that there was no such project planned for tonight, so she only raised an eyebrow and played along with Hideki's obvious escape plan. She always told the truth, so she used a vague answer to make it seem like she agreed.

"Sure. If that's what you wish. I'll only take a second."

Like Kotoko said, she only needed a moment. She transferred the payment using Gala Pay, and picked up the To-Go bag that the Persocom standing at the counter was offering. Hideki paid for his own meal and waved to Shinbo. "We'll meet up again, later, before you move, okay?"

"Yeah, definitely," Shinbo said, waving back.

Hideki and Kotoko had been standing within the train car for about thirty seconds before the perceptive Persocom turned to the young man who was standing next to her.

"So spill; want to tell me why you used me to escape?"

"You have Garrett's email, right?" said Hideki, looking a little haunted. They were pressed in quite densely, and right across from the both of them were three highschool girls in sailor uniforms. The girls were looking at the both of them and giggling in a suspicious manner.

"Of course. What do you need me to tell him?"

"I need you to ask him if he can search for Persocom repair shops in Tokyo."

Somehow, Kotoko was skeptical that this was such a simple request. What on Earth would Hideki need that information for?

"Is that all? I mean, even _I _could do that for you."

"Okay, well I'm searching for a Persocom. You remember Sumomo, right? Well she got broken and Shinbo gave her up for spare parts. I'm hoping, if she isn't recycled already, to get her."

So that's how it was. That was extremely disappointing to hear. She knew that was how many people treated their Persocoms, and it wasn't about to change any time soon, but still, she remembered Sumomo well.

"...On my own, I don't have the ability to look into private business records myself, but considering it's Garrett we're talking about, I'm sure he could."

"So can you—,"

It had not taken long for Garrett to respond, despite having been busy with disposing what was left of the ice bath Amber had taken.

"He already replied. He says he definitely will do it."

Holding his chest, Hideki let out the breath he had been holding. "Great. Thank you so much."

After a minute, she sported a sneaky smile. Miss Lee-Young really was hard on Garrett sometimes. He had given a little complaint to his fellow Persocom after Amber demanded that she be brought along as well, despite her condition. At first he had protested, but after the headlock she managed to encircle him in, he folded as easily as a wet napkin would tear.

'_The softness, Kotoko, was __**irresistible**__,'_ he had lamented.

"Looks like Amber is joining you, too."

Before they even arrived at their stops, Garrett had already found Sumomo. Seems like she was in a place called "_Kairi's 'Coms_" downtown. Kotoko searched for the location as soon as Garrett gave her the address. Hideki, who still had his school supplies with him, was able to produce a pen and paper for Kotoko to scribble the address down.

* * *

><p>...<p>

"You're late, Hideki," said Amber, wagging her finger.

"More like we're early, oujo-sama," Garrett said, placing his forehead into his palm. Apparently, she was still acting a little loopy from her close call with heat stroke today. She should have been resting, but the little heiress was adamant about tagging along.

"Thanks for the water earlier, by the way. That was a pretty kind thing to do for someone who nearly got you killed."

Blushing lightly, Hideki absently looked into the distance. He wasn't accustomed to being thanked just for being himself. "It's nothing. You're welcome, Miss—er, Amber."

Smiling widely like a Cheshire cat, Amber lightly laid her head against his arm. "You really need to stop being so formal. We're friends now, aren't we? So, let's go save that friend of yours, okay?"

It was a good-sized shop. There were little mobile units in clear plastic containers on the shelves lining the walls. Many of them were cleaned and polished to make the little 'coms look good as new. Posters of various sample units were all over the walls, and a single full-sized unit was slumbering in a clear plastic tube in the middle of the floor. Her hair was a bright orange, and she had a light smattering of freckles on her quiet face. Beyond her was the register, and a petite woman sitting behind the counter, reading a magazine.

The owner, Kairi herself, greeted them when the trio arrived. She looked up from the magazine to examine the newest customers. Her wide brown eyes, short brown hair, and tiny doll-like little features made her look like a Persocom herself, especially the way she didn't blink as often as a woman should. Waving, she smiled at the trio warmly.

"Anything I can help you with?" she asked.

The Chobit folded his hands on the counter and leaned forward. His blue eyes were friendly and open. "My friends and I were looking for a Persocom; one that you received…maybe a few days ago?"

Kairi thought over the customers who had brought in units. "We haven't gotten many used Persocoms lately, but this one arrived last week, if you're looking for any."

"Actually, I do believe that's the one we are looking for, yes."

Baffled as to why they would be searching for this specific Persocom, Kairi nodded. "So, uh, Mr...?"

"Smith. Garrett Smith."

Yes, she assumed he was foreign from his looks alone. This made the reason for him searching for this Persocom even stranger.

"Well, Mr. Smith, I don't know if you'd want this one. Her AI crystal is broken. Those things don't break easily, and they don't come cheap."

"Please, can we just see her?" pleaded Hideki. Without realizing it, he was looking as pitiful as a sad puppy.

Watching Hideki's expression, Kairi gained a mischievous glint her eyes. "Of course you can, Mr...?"

"Motosuwa Hideki."

Kairi appeared crestfallen, but nodded and disappeared to the back of the store. A minute later, she came back with a plain white box just a little larger than a pencil box. She removed the cover and showed them the familiar little unit.

For some reason, to Hideki it looked more like she was lying in a coffin.

"I actually got her to boot up after sealing the crack with some silicon crystal gel, but her personality is fragmented. To salvage any of the data, I would have to get a separate AI crystal and etch her onto that. But those things are extremely expensive. I'm just a mid-range shop—I can't order parts like that every day, much less for a mobile unit."

Amber looked upon the tiny Persocom and felt her blood begin to boil. She had spent time around Persocoms ever since she was a baby, considering the fact that her sister was always looking after her. Their maids had been Persocoms. Half of everyone she had grown up around was a Persocom. That's why…she was so upset. If she had been alone, Amber probably would have been crying.

"That...that insensitive jerk."

Placing a hand on her back, Garrett rubbed his thumb in soothing circles.

"Amber, hold on, you can't just say that. Take it easy, or you'll crash again."

She fumed there for a moment, staring at him in disbelief. If she had been in a worse mood, she would have shoved him for sure.

"Can't I? Really, _Master_, would you leave _me_ here to rust? 'I came home and she wouldn't respond', yeah right! I bet his wife threw her against the wall or something!"

Kairi looked horrified at the statement but she shook her head sadly. "Your Persocom is quite correct, Mr. Smith. An AI crystal doesn't just break. The main AI unit where the crystal is located is actually cushioned quite a bit, and the crystal itself isn't as fragile as glass. It can get fried when etching the data onto a new one, but for one to shatter like it did…this little one had to have sustained some significant trauma."

"She couldn't have," muttered Hideki, trying to come up with a more reasonable explanation. Any other explanation. "Ms. Shimizu, she couldn't have."

Garrett stared at Hideki as if he were speaking some alien language. "Wait. Our teacher is married to that Shinbo guy?"

Hideki looked aside, not willing to speak any further.

What was his whole name again? Hiromu Shinbo, as he recalled. Blinking, Garrett reconnected to the net. After a quick scan of public records, Garrett confirmed this. He gently squeezed Amber's shoulder.

Most of the Persocoms Kairi received were from PCN. "She's a different model than I'm used to. A mobile KESS model running a Picosoft OS, since she's too small to have an ESC. A combination of neurologic processor and AI crystal but configured to speak Japanese, she's definitely custom-made." "Aside from the physical the damage, there were a few missing or erroneous memory files. I had to take a look at her system logs, to see if there was something else I could do. Apparently, when turned on, she can see and hear everyone, but she can't respond."

'_It's like being in a coma…'_ thought Garrett, a few processes in his mind halting in shock.

Kairi licked her lips and took the body out of the box. From the reaction that these three had given, they didn't like to see the little one stored in the box like that. As she observed, the other Persocoms they had passed by on the way to the counter hadn't elicited the same reaction, so perhaps it had to do with something they knew about the mobile unit she had recently received.

"I gave him a few million for her, but you three look like good people, so..."

"Wha—," Amber balked as Kairi gingerly handed her the limp, deactivated body of Sumomo.

Knowing it was far out of her ability, the girl smiled sadly at the three shocked people standing in front of her.

"Take care of her for me, please?"

* * *

><p><em>I hate everything<em>

_Everyone_

_They all treat me like I am_

_Less than a person_

_Even though I don't believe in myself_

_I want to believe I am real_


	28. Chapter 26

_**MASS POST WARNING: GO BACK AND READ THE FIRST CHAPTER I POSTED, PLEASE. IT WILL SAY "THIS IS THE FIRST CHAPTER I POSTED."**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>I am picking up the pace on this story. Everything had been planned from day one; it was just executing it that was hard.<strong>_

_**The songs for this chapter are "Simple and Clean" by Utada Hikaru from Kingdom Hearts, and "A Place in Time" by Amanda Abizabid. The second of which will appear briefly.**_

* * *

><p><em>I'm paralyzed<em>

_I'm stuck in time_

_Frozen_

_I can't move on_

_If I move on, I'm afraid of what will happen_

_I don't want to fall in love_

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 26: For Whom the Lotus Blooms<span>

_Under the early morning hours, there flashes a long silver blade. It is marred by crimson…_

_(mana, pulsing ever steady)_

…_there is a sickening crunch and the clang of metal, and the pitiful screams go on and on, without stopping._

_They were my screams._

* * *

><p>...<p>

After the initial awkwardness, Garrett felt more comfortable at the gala when he was sure no one was looking at him. It was a sea of sparkling gowns and black tuxedos. The air was crisp and cool inside the vast ballroom. They had announced their names upon arrival, and now the sea of scrutinizing eyes had become bored with who the heiress of Gala Inc. had chosen for her date.

They walked past more than just a few industry giants on the way to their reserved table.

Was that his imagination, or was that Benjamin Paths, founder of Picosoft, chatting with four blonde Persocoms near the giant ice butterfly sculpture? And over there, near the champagne fountain, there was Dr. Hakase, the co-founder of Reishinka Industries. Next to her was a tall green-haired Persocom with ears that remind him of airplane wings sticking straight up. As much as Garrett would like to talk to these brilliant, innovative minds, there was one business mogul he dreaded meeting. The president of Gala Computers Incorporated. Ahead of him was Dr. Shawn Michaels Lee-Young.

There was nowhere to escape.

This was the first time he would be meeting her father in person.

Sure, Garrett had heard of him on television, seen him speak on talk-shows, even heard whispers of his voice over the cellphone when Amber would call him. But nothing in person. Nothing at all. If he was uncomfortable having Amber meet his parents, imagine how he felt meeting her father.

Standing next to their reserved table was Dr. Lee-Young. He had a pretty, pink-haired Persocom standing next to him, and they were speaking with some of the shareholders.

Garrett blanched; he wanted to rub his eyes in disbelief. That Persocom standing next to the chatting doctor was not just _any_ Persocom. Wasn't that Meroko Black, the Persocom singing star? From the girl's head, two white rabbit ears were continually twitching. Two years ago the media had continually announced her marriage to the millionaire Joe Black, only two months after she started her career.

"Hi Daddy," said Amber, walking up to her father. She held Garrett's arm, and despite the composed and together air they were giving off, she was the one leading him instead of the other way around.

"Amber, there you are. Glad you could join us." Her father opened his arms in welcome and grabbed her into a hug.

After he released her, Amber embraced her big sister. "Meroko!" she said brightly, snuggling the girl clad in a hot pink gown.

"Hey there little sis'." Meroko nodded to the nervous young man standing next to her sister. "Who's your date?" She already was trying to size up Garrett, and from the looks of it, Meroko was already analyzing him. She had heard quite abut about him over the years, but her sister had kept him quite hidden away. Meeting him in person was harder to arrange than having dinner with the President of the United States, and yet now he was here in front of her.

His embarrassed look certainly was cute, that was for sure. He wasn't bad-looking to begin with, either.

"N-nice to meet you, Dr. Lee-Young, Mrs. Black, I'm Garrett Ravensdale."

They all shook hands like investors meeting for the first time at a business conference.

The light of recognition ignited in Dr. Lee-Young's eyes.

"Ravensdale." He tipped his head lightly. "The son of the heads of R&D and Advertising, am I right? You're also from Amber's karate class, I think. I've heard a bit about you."

They shook hands, briefly.

Naturally, he expected her father to have heard of him at some point in time. Amber clearly must have mentioned him at some point. What Garrett had not expected was that such a rich and famous man would even remember that he was 'that kid from his daughter's karate classes'.

All the stress of meeting his friend(who happened to be a girl)'s father, slackened a bit. Feeling a little freer than before, Garrett smiled despite his trepidation and folded his hands behind his back.

"Really, sir? I'm honored to hear that. After all, you co-developed the AI technology with Doctors Ichiro and Chitose Mihara. You started the Sarah Thompson Artificial Limbs Foundation. Billionaire, Genius, Philanthropist, you're sort of my hero."

"I'm flattered. I don't get compliments like that often. Most of my staff probably thinks I'm bonkers." Dr. Lee-Young scratched his cheek nervously. "At least one kid still likes me."

Meroko placed her cheek on her father's shoulder, rubbing his back. "Daddy... Don't be silly. Lots of people like you."

Amber mimicked her sister, resting her head against her father's free arm. "Yeah, like, you're not totally hopeless."

"Thanks, girls. But I'm pretty sure they pretend to like me because they fear me." Dr. Lee-Young continued to smile at Garrett genially. "Mr. Ravensdale, you're a good kid—and from what I hear from your parents, you love working with Persocoms, and that you're smarter than half of my staff. When you finish school, just give me a call—I can give you a job. And not some underpaid internship, either."

"Daddy..." said his daughters in unison, both giving him dark looks. They were holding his arms tightly, putting some of their weight on him. Couldn't he just go back to his normal dad routine? Was he tired of the typical, hating the boyfriend business already?

Surprised by this reaction from his daughters, he looked from one pouty girl to the next. If he laughed now, he'd be in trouble for sure.

"What? Meroko, Amber, I happen to like him. He's got that little sparkle in his eyes. There's potential."

"But you _hated_ Joe when you first met him," complained Meroko.

If Dr. Lee-Young could have slapped his younger self, he would have.

It was true. He had disliked the man so much that when Mr. Black came to visit, Dr. Lee-Young had ordered the maids to restrain the young millionaire.

The flustered father tried to explain his blatant bias against the other man. "Well, to be fair, he had a completely different feel than Mr. Ravensdale, here. You see—,"

In the distance, someone in a white suit holding a clipboard waved at the slightly-mad billionaire. Ready to take an exit, he hurriedly shrugged away his daughters. Before he kicked himself in the mouth here, he needed to leave and get ready for the prepared pre-dinner program.

"Oh, that's my cue. The program is about to start, soon. You three can sit and get more acquainted with each other."

Like a human Alka-Seltzer, he dissolved into the water-like crowd.

Looking after the man with mild confusion, the three youngsters sat down. Garrett had not expected such a first meeting. He seemed just a little eccentric, like the technology journals had claimed. The only other one who probably would beat him in the madness department had to be the late Dr. Mihara, who died of some strange neurological disorder.

"So, uh, you're Amber's sister?" said Garrett, trying to sort out the family situation. Obviously, he knew of what happened to Amber's mother, but she had completely left out the fact that her sister was a known celebrity. Garrett had been so focused on her father's achievements with Persocoms that he had completely overlooked certain areas of the man's life.

"Yeah, but I'm just a few years older," Meroko said, her ears sticking straight up like antennae. "I assume you weren't expecting someone so…mechanical?"

Understandable that she would assume that of him. Most people would have had a problem with that, yet he could not understand why that was. They were people—very interesting people. Garrett was a little more than just fascinated; others could rightly say he was obsessed. He was like someone who wanted to become a medical doctor because they simply adored how the human body was built and how it operated, and simply wanted to improve upon it in any way they could.

"Actually," Garrett looked slightly abashed, "that was more of a wonderful surprise. Amber mentioned everything about you aside from that."

"Then why were you so shocked to see…well, me?" Meroko rested her chin on top of her hands.

Silent for the moment, Amber rolled her eyes. If there had been some champagne on the table, this would have been the best time to down a whole glass of it. Not that she could legally drink yet, anyway, but it was a nice thought to have. Comforting, almost.

Garrett, on the other hand, looked at Meroko as if she had eaten a doughnut and said she had had a human stomach implanted into her chassis. His bright blue eyes turned into saucers.

"Are you **serious**? You're _Meroko Black_. Since you started singing I've been a huge fan—I have all of your albums."

That was the last thing she would have ever thought to hear from someone. In this world, she had many opposers, due to her being a Persocom. Her fans were few, but loyal, and as improbable as it was, it seemed that she was meeting with one of them right now.

Traces of skepticism danced around in her neon pink eyes. A slim pulsing red ring of light encircling her iris was revolving, growing, and shrinking at a moderate pace.

"Really? That's quite interesting for you to say. Let me test that, then. What's your favorite song of mine?"

Garrett replied immediately, with an excitement comparable to a hyped up groupie welling up within him. "Album 2, Plugged In, Track 5, Wired Life."

"That's one of my personal favorites, actually." She gave him an approving nod before cracking a wry grin that was directed towards her sister. "I can see why you like him."

"We're just friends," replied both teenagers immediately.

The response had been given in unison. On top of that, they were sporting similar looks of chagrin, accompanied by deep blushes.

Slightly skeptical of the veracity of that statement, Meroko lowered her ears and pushed them to the back of her head. For some reason she felt a little disappointed to hear they weren't dating. Why, looking at the both of them together was enough to make her declare them her new One True Pairing. It just felt right.

"Ah, so you two aren't that intimate?" asked Meroko, making a strange hand gesture. It looked like the signal that you thought someone was crazy, but instead of her twirling her finger next to her head, Meroko drew the loopy spiral in the direction of her free fist.

Garrett was a bit confused until he saw Amber's embarrassment and anger multiply by ten-fold. His friend was wringing the thick white tablecloth so roughly that he thought she would wear a hole in the fabric if she tried hard enough. The signal must have been a family-thing that only had some significance to the two sisters.

"If you mean what I think you do, then, no," bit out Amber in a clipped tone, which allowed Garrett to fully understand her irritation.

"N-Not that I'd object," added Garrett before he could think things through. "It's just that I never got a chance to make a move."

"What?" Amber's head snapped around so fast that she could have gotten whiplash.

Not knowing why he was continuing down this dangerous path, Garrett looked off into the distance, tracing a circle in the tablecloth. "I mean, I never knew if you liked me or if you _like liked_ me, but I guess this date means the latter, right?"

For a few seconds Amber opened and closed her mouth like a goldfish, trying to absorb this new information. Of all the times he could spring this on her, it had to be in front of her screwball sister, Meroko.

Speaking of Meroko, she was looking upon the scene with delight, as if it were one of her favorite K-dramas.

"After the most embarrassing kisses—," began Amber, sounding out of breath and incredulous all at once.

"Kisses?" asked Meroko dreamily, wishing she could eat popcorn.

"—of my entire life, you think I don't like you?" Amber blinked repeatedly and shook her head. "Wow. You are one oblivious boy."

"O-oblivious?" said Garrett, feeling only just a little hurt. It was true that he was a bit dense when it came to love, but by the second kiss he had begun to catch on to the idea that she fancied him. It was more like Garrett couldn't believe that she would be interested in someone as plain as him.

After the little scene played out, Meroko giggled hysterically. She looked like she was on the brink of tears from the hilarity.

"You two are just too cute!" she said in between giggles. Tilting her head to the side, she couldn't help but recall her husband. "Now that you mention it, though, Joe was just as oblivious to love. It must be a male thing." At this point, she also stood to leave, her fingertips resting on the table. "But I got to go; I have to prepare to sing later on after the program. You guys do want some good music to dance to, right?"

Meroko waved. "Ciao."

Then there were only two people left sitting at the table, wondering what just had happened.

"Did you plan this?" said Garrett.

Amber shook her head slowly. "Trust me, I didn't."

* * *

><p>...<p>

The program had been short, filled with word cruft, and had Amber's father speaking for half of the time. Several other CEOs were invited up, as well. Some of them were given awards. Some of them even gave speeches. All of it was boring if you weren't into Persocoms like a giant nerd, or didn't quite grasp all of the technological lingo. Most likely you didn't understand the latter if you were the former.

As a closing statement, Dr. Lee-Young leaned into the microphone and said his final few words. The half-Japanese half-Korean man raised the champagne glass in his hand and grinned broadly.

"As we begin our marvelous mid-gala banquet, I would like to say these few words in conclusion. And here they are: Nitwit! Flubber! Oddiment! Twerk! Thank you!"

"You dad is—,"

"Don't say it, Garrett," warned Amber, placing a finger over his lips.

Several moments later there were hundreds of butlers taking orders for dinner. They stopped at the table reserved for Amber and her family first, of course. Had to feed the boss and his children well, after all, even if one of them didn't eat. The service was swift, thanks to the 3D food printers in the kitchen, and the butlers, though human, returned just a swiftly.

Apparently, Meroko was fond of the 'new oldies' as everybody called them. Because to start off the night she began singing something by John Newnan, a song called "Love Me Again." She put her own spin on it, actually, turning it into more of a reply to the original, singing from the perspective of the woman in the song. It was a little more jazzy than the original, since this was to be a fancy party.

Jazz was a little hard to dance to, and besides that, Garrett needed a little more time to prepare himself before they went out onto the ballroom. After two more songs, he had enough courage, though, and tried to force down the dark blush that had taken over his entire face.

"Care to dance?" asked Garrett, standing. He extended a palm to his date, who raised an eyebrow as if to say 'finally'.

"You know how to dance?" Amber said in a teasing voice. She took his hand and rose to her feet alongside him.

"I don't just specialize in falling on my butt in karate class."

They walked to the dance floor hand in hand. Below their feet was a pattern of light brown shapes and golden curves. Above them was a massive chandelier the size of two Hummer SUVs that cast miniature rainbows on the ceiling.

Meroko, as she had promised, was still singing for the event. By this point, the tune had changed from slightly-Jazzy to more of a surreal pop song. The live band was grooving along with Meroko, who, despite being in such restrictive eveningwear, was swaying to the beat so convincingly that even some of the most disagreeable people were willing to dance.

"Well, you never went to any dances at school." Staring into Garrett's eyes, Amber swung with him to the music, never letting go of his hand. She could feel his heartbeat thundering, even through the skin of his palm. "I assumed you couldn't do it, that's all."

"You never went to those things, either," he pointed out.

"_So long ago, Another life,_

_I could feel your heartbeat..."_

Laughing, she fluttered her eyelashes. "Are you flirting with me, Ravensdale?"

"Fair enough, but you started it. _Besides_, you already know that I'm a compulsive flirt."

All the joy from a few seconds ago quickly melted into a serious expression. Swallowing her pride, Amber gazed into his face. "Garrett, I have something to tell you. You've been my best friend for a while, but there is something about me that you need to know."

"_It's not a dream, remember us,_

_I can see it in your eyes"_

The chandelier. It had seemed so secure only moments before. Amber and Garrett were dancing right under the glimmering shards of death, ignorant of the crystalline structure that was swaying dangerously back and forth.

"_We'll find a place in time,_

_A place in time to call our home."_

This was sudden. Secrets in the middle of the dance floor? Amber was certainly full of surprises tonight. Now she was being vague about this supposed secret, but if she were saying it in a public place like this, it must have been something that she was keeping only from him. "Tell me? What, like a secret? You know me; I've got a mind with 64-bit encryption."

That joke made her chuckle a bit, despite her trying to be more solemn.

"Very funny, you big_ nerd_. But I'm being serious."

"_We'll find a place in time,_

_A place in time beyond the sun,"_

There was a giant creaking noise resembling the sound of a metal door hinge squeaking open. A moment afterwards, a loud, echoing crack from the ceiling caused only a handful of people in the ballroom to look upwards.

"_We'll find a place in time,_

_A place in time to call our home."_

Garrett and Amber seemed to have looked up at the perfect moment. In that moment, her brown eyes widened in fear. She could see the large link that was holding the chandelier to the ceiling. It was wrenched open like a coconut cleaved open with a rock. The metal was bending—stretching, actually. It wasn't long before the chandelier was going to slip off.

Only a second after she saw the danger, the situation became even worse.

Now the unstable decoration was plummeting onto the ballroom where several hundred people were dancing, completely unaware of the danger that had been wobbling above them.

Seconds before the dangling ornament crushed their skeletons, someone whispered a single word.

"Reflexio!"

All of the LED lights embedded in crystal exploded upwards in waves. From the smallest tier, going upwards the pieces separated from the silver rings that were part of the ornament's base. A mass of rainbows refracted off of the thousands of little pieces skittering into the air.

"Did you—," began Garrett, the horror on his now ashen face mirroring the looks of everyone else in the room.

"Shhhh," said Amber, placing a finger over his lips.

All of the lights in the ballroom simultaneously shut off, and they were left in darkness. Every single Persocom activated their infrared vision, and the darkness was filled with colorful dots glowing in the dark.

A softness pressed against Garrett's lips—a familiar one he had felt only thrice before.

* * *

><p><strong>Years Later...<strong>

Magenta hair streaked with a single lock of dirty blonde, the short bangs swept over her forehead lightly. A small oval face of a child, with eyes closed, belonged to the full-sized Persocom that sat in still, pale, silence in the middle of the room.

Despite being considered a full-sized model, the body was the height and appearance of a child.

From the design alone, you could tell from which company she had been manufactured.

A high-end model from Gala Inc., with specs comparable to one of the luxury Persocoms from KESS, she was more than aesthetically pleasing—she was what the Japanese would call _Kawaii_. Worldwide, Gala was known to tailor to the premium market, with music producers or digital artists buying over 50% of their full-sized inventory. Governmental contracts took up the other 25%, and the smaller units were more popular with the general population.

Their operating systems, especially on the mobile platform, was one of the highest praised. However, it was also one of the most complex systems known. NEIS or Picosoft was known to be a competitor, in terms of software. NEIS often developed its own operating systems, but Picosoft was still the more popular choice. On the other end of the spectrum, KESS had to be a more direct competitor, as both it and Gala sold Persocoms with an ESC, or Emotional Software Cortex. Gala had their own version of an ESC from the beginning, but once KESS decided to try their hand at the ESC, they had to really step up their game.

However, all of that aside, the task ahead was not going to be easy at all.

What they were going to do was comparable to a symphony, in terms of length and difficulty. Amber was the conductor. Kojima was the concert master. Minoru was the Strings. Garrett would be the guy banging on the grand piano. Yuzuki, Anthy, and Yuki were the Brass and Woodwinds section. Last but not least, Kotoko was the soloist.

Two connectors right above the base of her neck, hidden within the bundles of pink hair, stretched from the unmoving unit, extending to two workstations. From these two workstations, three cables from each extended outwards, snaking around on the floor. One cable was connected to Garrett. The next was connected to Kotoko. Yuzuki, Anthy, and Yuki had connections as well. From Yuzuki, three more cables extended. She was also plugged into Yuki and Anthy, as well as an additional workstation, where Minoru was seated.

At the first two workstations, Amber and Kojima were getting themselves set up. To transfer all of Sumomo's data into a new body, especially that of a different model, would be very involved. Amber had insisted on using a body from Gala, as she refused to support Reishinka, no offense to Minako, but she didn't care for the programming architecture at all. Kojima agreed with her on that point, despite Minoru's pouting face. Reishinka was one of his favorite companies. Yuki and Anthy were from Reishinka, as well as Yuzuki.

You _could_ run Picosoft on a Gala system, but it'd be better if they extracted the data and converted everything, just for the sake of consistency. Fewer errors happened this way.

Holding the tiny mobile unit that once had called her friend, Kotoko took a cable from within one of her bells and snapped it into the little unit. Kotoko was sitting beside Kojima, and in front of his workstation was a contraption similar to a 3D printer. In the base of the machine where the printing head would normally hover, was a clear ball the size of a fist. It was secured within the unit by three metal prongs. However, this machine was not a 3D printer, but a laser inscription unit. Using a low energy laser, the 'system image' of the old crystal would be etched using pulses of pale blue light. It would be the outlines of sentience.

"Kojima. You hooked up all the connectors?" Amber was typing away at her own station as she spoke.

Checking the last of the cables, Kojima gave a thumbs up. "Securing the last one right now; this isn't my first rodeo."

"Garrett, Ladies, you ready to interpret the code?"

"All systems go," said Garrett, his normally blue eyes gaining a red tint. It'd been a long time since he unleashed the full power of his processing capacity, and he was raring to go.

"Ready," Yuzuki affirmed. Her face was serious and stern, as if she were officiating a business meeting. She had remembered the little mobile unit, and as long as the AI crystal was still whole, the spunky little Persocom was still considered "alive." From what she knew, Sumomo's crystal was fractured, which was serious, but the only way to "save" her was to transfer her into a new body. To say that Yuzuki was the first of the Minoru's Persocoms who volunteered to help was not inaccurate.

"Ready," Anthy said cheerily. She was just happy to help, and, she preferred this to cleaning any day.

"All things are operational," said Yuki in her same monotone. She had felt some sympathy for the tiny 'com, and although she would not show it, felt like smacking the human who had hurt the little dear.

Amber glanced over to the woodwinds. "Kotoko, are you ready to inscribe?"

Taking one last glance at the unresponsive body of Sumomo in her hands, Kotoko nodded. Even if she had been annoying in the past, Sumomo had been her friend. This was the least she could do for her.

"Ready."

It had taken over four hours to get Kotoko transferred into the body she had now, and even then, all of Kojima's other Persocoms had been plugged into the other unit, guiding the process. He had almost hacked into Chii using them, so it had been quite a bit of computing power backing up the process. It had taken four Persocoms alone to transcribe Kotoko's soul into the new medium. That was due to the many facets of her personality, but the complexity of the delicate work was most of the problem.

Now, Kotoko had prepared to do that on her own.

"Alright. Commence transfer." Her voice flat and expressionless, Amber spoke at a speed comparable to a caffeine high as she pounded the last values into the console. "Go!" The words and numbers flew down the screen at a rate no normal human could possibly read. However, Amber Lee-Young was not just a 'normal human'. All of the data was flowing from the old body, and pouring into console, which was showing the process for her to analyze.

"Compiling data..." Amber followed the numbers before her. A sea of ones and zeroes cascaded past her eyes in epileptic patterns. "…transferring over to you, Garrett."

Several packets were sent over to the blue-eyed unit who had been so excited before.

"Parsing strings," said Garrett. Behind his eyes, flashes of light were streaking across his irises. A light blue ring surrounding his pupil was pulsing at an even rhythm.

"Yuzuki, help Garrett to sort through the strings and translate," directed Amber. She monitored the flow of data closely. From the numbers coming back from Garrett and the rest, they weren't heating up much. Their internal temperatures were consistent, and the overall CPU usage hadn't even peaked over ten percent.

From her console, Amber continued to direct the computational symphony. "Anthy, Yuki, begin error-checking. When you're done, send Kojima, Minoru, and I the erroneous strings." Some of the bits of code were damaged, due to the fracture of the previous crystal. However, since the crystal's old pattern was going to be transferred, there were bound to be errors left. Most likely, Sumomo would have a bit of problems when she woke up, even if the process when as planned. "Minoru, Kojima, stay sharp. I need you to help me write the patches."

A soft whirring resonated between the machines as they neatened up the strings and cleaned up the overall code.

"Kotoko, start transcribing."

Now, on to the most important part. It would take most of her concentration, but she was ready. Now that the data was being secured within the new brain, Kotoko had the work of drawing a new soul. Ever since the incident with Chii crashing her, she felt…different. But in a good way. It was like opening her eyes anew, and she was experiencing things with more depth and feeling than ever before. Upon later inspection of her system, Kotoko found that Chii had inadvertently etched a strange pattern onto her AI crystal. It had been working in connection the odd program that the little blonde sent to everyone when she went berserk, and the combination of the two was responsible for Kotoko feeling so different.

From the tip of the laser, a blue light shot out, connecting with the crystal. Revolving around the clear sphere, the laser flashed. Flowery fractals appeared in the medium. Vine-like threads branched out in all directions.

As Kotoko read the old crystal, she could see it decay at an exponential rate. The trick was to inscribe the image she saw as she was seeing it. During the whole procedure, Kotoko did not dare open her eyes.

Sumomo's AI crystal was very floral in nature. Some of the facets resembled the leaves of a lotus flower stretching towards heaven. Other designs inside of the little structure included the silhouettes of barren rose bushes and patches of daisies.

Kotoko pulled back her consciousness and let another part of her mind do the etching. Something odd was happening to her. As she gazed upon the crystal, it felt as if she were reliving events that she had not experienced. Although she was not interpreting the memory files, Kotoko had seen memories.

It was a surreal feeling to be in two places at once, so she promptly let her logic center do the etching by itself, withdrawing her feelings entirely. The process could not slow down, of course, because the crystal would cool, and the etching would be incomplete. So, sitting in the darkness, Kotoko continued her work, surveying the fanciful patterns before her.

"98%...99%...100% completion."

After quite some time, Kotoko heard herself say this, and she opened her eyes.

* * *

><p>…<p>

Hideki stepped away from the back of Sumomo's new body and balked at the unconscious girl. The AI crystal took no time to cool, and immediately after it was finished, Amber directed Hideki to install it into the primed body. After fiddling around with a few gestures, Amber had opened the back of Sumomo's head and instructed the tall young man on how to install the crystalline structure. After it was placed correctly, the crystal began to glow a deep purple color.

"D-Did it work?" asked Hideki, looking upon the 'rebirth' of this girl with awe.

Soft light glowed behind the beautifully designed eyes as they slid open to examine their surroundings. Stunning plum-colored eyes rimmed with dark pink eyelashes. Rings of bright pink lined the iris, and wire-thin, almost invisible, bands of lavender lined the outside and middle of the optics.

A yawn escaped the tiny doll-like mouth. The newly awakened Persocom stretched and rubbed her right eye.

"Sumomo, are you okay?" asked Amber.

After a moment of blinking away what looked like drowsiness, Sumomo sat upright and addressed everyone with a cheery smile.

"Good evening, everyone!"

Her wide, youthful eyes scrolled around the room. Hundreds more parameters than usual were flooding into her vision. So many people were staring at her. What was going on here? Sumomo's last relevant memory was of when that nice lady in the repair shop was giving her a checkup.

"Sumomo feels different. Why does Sumomo's mind feel so strange? Ownership has been manually terminated from the last registered users. Please state the new confirmation code."

No one moved for a few seconds. No one spoke for a few seconds.

Amber nudged the taller boy. "Hideki, you need to give her the confirmation code."

"Oh, right," said Hideki, taking out the slim book that came with the body they had shipped here. Gala was infamous for giving minimal to no instructions along with their equipment, but they did have a lot of handy pre-installed applications and programs, so that more than made up for the overall vagueness of operation. Often, you would only have a pair of wireless headphones and the confirmation number in the package, if you were lucky.

Hideki looked through the three-page book and found it easily. "Um, it says it here in the booklet. Page 2. V-G- zero-zero- X - K- Y two- seven- dash- B."

"Confirmed," said the girl, blinking. The lavender band of light within her eyes pulsed in and out to the rhythm of a heartbeat. "Sorry. Sumomo already knows your name, but please state it yourself to initiate the voice print recognition, please!"

"Motosuwa, Hideki."

Reviewing all the fun new information in her head, Sumomo nodded in appreciation. Clapping her hands together lightly, she asked "Would you like me to download the latest updates?"

"Not right now, no." Shaking his head, Hideki scratched his cheek nervously. "Er, Sumomo, is it okay if I changed your name a little?"

Without missing a beat, the little Persocom jump to her feet. Her little pink dress swayed as she did, and the tiny matching sandals made little _tok_ noises when she landed. "That is noooooo problem!" announced the little girl. "Editing designation now, so please enter new values."

Hideki looked as he were about to hesitate again, so Amber poked him in the ribs with her elbow. "I-If anyone asks, you're to go by the name Sumomo _Motosuwa_, if that's alright with you?"

It had been agreed that Kojima and Minoru both had too many Persocoms to shelter another, as much as they did not want to admit it. If they could afford it, they would have gladly added to their already-large electric bills. On the other foot, Amber currently had her hands full with Garrett, the pervert. Which left Hideki, who had merely his lovely girlfriend Chii. Originally, it had been Chii who had suggested that Sumomo take Hideki's last name. She already considered herself his wife, despite not being married to him, _yet_. Therefore, this was Chii's cute little idea of 'playing house', and she had so much to teach her new 'child' despite meeting her several times before!

"Alright, Master Hideki!" chimed Sumomo brightly, changing her name within seconds.

Abashed, Hideki covered his face. "Please, don't call me 'Master', Sumomo; that just feels _gross_."

Upon hearing this, the little Persocom started the flex the new logic circuits in her brain. Before, her thoughts had been so simple, but now, it was as if her whole consciousness had expanded by a thousand-fold. If Master did not want her to call him 'Master', and she was to be called by his surname, what did that mean? This new body was that of a child's design, around ten years old, Sumomo reasoned, so either he should be 'Big Brother' or 'Papa'. Although it was more _logical_ to call him 'Oniichan', considering his age, the other designation was sounding far more interesting.

Sumomo, after processing this for 400 milliseconds, blinked and smiled amiably. The circular bands of light were pulsing much faster than before—a sure sign of her excitement.

"Does that mean I can call you Papa?"

Stunned, Hideki's mouth opened, but he could form no sound to protest this.

"Chii!" agreed Hideki's girlfriend in joy.

* * *

><p><em>Let me love you<em>

_I want to make you happy_

_Is it worth it to never fall in love?_

_Love circulates around us, but_

_You want to deny it_

_You say I flatter you, but_

_You pretend that you hate it_

_I see the smile tugging at the scowl_

_Let me love you_

_We all care about someone who's dying_

* * *

><p><em><strong>I do know Ms. Hibiya uses her maiden name, but for the sake of the story, before Dr. Mihara's death, they're both just referred to as 'Dr. Mihara.' Also, I'm sure that you probably could not tell through the text, but Amber and her sister have a light Californianvalley-girl accent when speaking English. Plus, things have been really normal, recently, haven't they? I just didn't want to overload you all with MAGIC MAGIC MAGIC.**_


	29. Chapter 27

_**MASS POST WARNING: GO BACK AND READ THE FIRST CHAPTER I POSTED, PLEASE.**__** IT WILL SAY "THIS IS THE FIRST CHAPTER I POSTED."**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>I feel like I'm getting worse, but no matter. Don't worry about me, guys. I just feel better knowing that you all enjoy my work. I'm satisfied with that alone. The song you should play to set the tone for this chapter is "Release Me" by Agnes.<strong>_

* * *

><p><em>I feel so insignificant<em>

_For the strangest reasons_

_You want my heart more than you want me_

_And it hurts_

_Because I have to die to make you happy_

_But will you be?_

_Will you truly be happy?_

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 27: To Dance With Death in Your Dreams <span>

_I was just a rich girl, living in a bland world. I danced, I had my karate, and I lived with Persocoms. But, once mother died, I found that my passion for such things had dwindled. I had almost no friends. Well, not exactly, but I didn't want to stay "just friends" with him. _

_It's funny. The boy I liked never showed much interest—it made me think that I was wasting all my efforts. Maybe there was a reason he wasn't into me in that way? I guess I didn't want to think about it too deeply._

_However, one day, he asked if I wanted to go watch a movie. He had a collection of old dvds that he wanted to show me. I said yes without thinking, which is hilarious in hindsight. Dvds? __**Ew**__, those were so retro that it wasn't even cool. Cassettes and Walkmans were cool—even the digital ones. Dvds? Nope. My family only used microdisks. Even dusting off the Blu-ray player was a stretch. Nevertheless, I went. I had a little hope that the evening would turn out the way I often dreamed._

_The beginning of my freshman year—I hoped he would ask me to be his girlfriend. I went there hoping to make-out with him. Unfortunately, I became addicted to uncool, ancient movies, instead._

* * *

><p><em>...<em>

It was after class, and most of the students had gone home. Chii had come to pick up Hideki for a change, accompanied by Amu, who had directed her here safely. She was much more independent than she had been a few months ago. The little blonde now was able to buy a ticket and go on the subway without incident. She could even navigate the city streets, with some help, of course. The little mobile unit was resting on Chii's shoulder and swinging her feet like a child when they arrived.

In all honesty, Amber would have preferred not to return to the classroom of the woman who had broken Sumomo. After transferring into the new body, she seemed happier as the week went on. For someone to have done something like that to such a bright and cheery girl—it was very disappointing. At first, Amber had thought the teacher very nice, but now, as time went on, she was beginning to see the darkness that had been brewing within the older woman.

She was demonstrating this now.

"Miss Shimizu, are you alright?" Wary, Garrett ensured that he was standing at a reasonable distance away from the upset teacher.

Only moments ago, Garrett had requested that Ms. Shimizu not ask Amber to run any more errands. The response was hostile, saying the least. She appeared to be on the brink of flipping out.

The woman slammed her palm on her desk in frustration. "Maybe it should stay home, then," Takako said icily, tilting her head to the side. "If it's so useless, then I'd prefer that **thing** to stay out of my classroom."

For a moment, it was deathly quiet.

_It_. Last time Garrett checked, Amber identified as female. Last time he checked, she wasn't a _thing_. She had a name, and it was extremely rude to not use her name at all. For Garrett, who was a Persocom, this was a major racial slur.

Hideki, who had been preparing to leave, was speechless upon hearing his teacher speaking in such a virulent manner. He wasn't sure what to make of this predicament, even though technically, it _was_ his business. Chii had tugged on his sleeve as he looked at the teacher in shock. From when she heard that Ms. Shimizu had hurt Sumomo, the girl was wary of staying around her for long, despite her coming to get Hideki.

"That was out of line Shimizu-sensei," said Garrett coolly.

Stunned, the teacher wasn't sure if she should be either indignant or bewildered. However, her brain quickly opted for both. "What, you're taking its side? Have you already given up on real women? I never see you with anyone else but it, and you want me to just stand by and say nothing, do you?"

Garrett glanced briefly at Amber, who was keeping her emotions in check pretty well at this point. In fact, right now, she looked a little bored—at least that was the air that she was projecting. As for Garrett, he was getting pretty frustrated at this point. Just what was her issue? Garrett's scan of the public records also showed that Ms. Shimizu had been married before, but he had filed for divorce. Were Persocoms somehow to blame for that, or was it something else?

"Actually, my love-life is none of your business." Stuffing his hands into his khaki pants, Garrett said this 'bluntly' instead of 'politely', which made Amber raise an eyebrow. Japanese was quite interesting when you got down to speaking it. He was taking advantage of one of the many ways to say something, which, should have been a subtle warning towards the teacher not to take this any further. Garrett was quickly running out of patience, and if he got angry, things would not turn out well. "I would also prefer you not talk about her as if she wasn't real."

Noting the furious look in his wife's eyes, Shinbo held up his hands. Her fists were shaking, and she looked ready to pop a blood vessel. "Takako, calm down, he's—,"

"No!" she shouted, causing Shinbo to flinch. "Don't 'Takako', me. You **shut up**, Hiromu! You're siding with this bastard, too, aren't you?!" Ms. Shimizu looked enraged enough to throw the stapler on her desk at them. "All of you _men_ are _the same_, aren't you? Replacing us with machines, throwing us away as if we're nothing… if I don't stop him here, he'll become just like my ex-husband!"

At the exact same time, Amber and Garrett finally understood. Why hadn't Hideki told them earlier? Amber shot a look to the guilty-looking boy and frowned. It was too late now. This situation was boiling over. Obviously her ex-husband had replaced her with a Persocom. What a scumbag.

Nevertheless, that didn't excuse her blatant racism.

"You're seriously messed up in the head," said Amber, not sure if she should look at her with pity or disgust.

Thank goodness Ms. Shimizu didn't take these words as seriously as Amber meant them. "What would you know? You're just a machine. A _thing_. I don't need your simulated pity, you insufferable _bitch.*_"

Blinking in surprise at the cutting retort, Amber felt her cheeks warm up, but thanks to her complexion, it wasn't too noticeable. Beside the shocked heiress, Garrett was livid. He clenched his teeth and hands tightly, thinking of reasons why he shouldn't hurt this woman. Number one, he was a gentleman. Number two, he could be disassembled if they found out he was a Persocom. Number three…well, he didn't have much reason other than those two.

"You better watch what you say in front of me—," hissed Garrett, seething with anger. "I'd want to keep my arms attached to my body."

A hand lay on his tense shoulder. As much as he didn't want to, Garrett looked askance. It was Amber's hand, of course, and she was giving him an even look. "It's okay, Garrett. Only a twisted and weak woman would connect me with her failed marriage." She spoke idly, in that pretentious tone she would use whenever she wanted to assert her 'status', as it were. It was the voice she used when talking to insolent stockholders or school bullies—her 'heiress' voice. Looking over the woman standing in front of them, Amber tilted her head to the side. "Really, what did Persocoms ever do to you?"

"I'll **tell** you what they—,"

"I was being rhetorical," said Amber, not giving her time to argue. "I already know what happened. You'd be amazed what you can find on the internet. All it means he was an unfaithful dog—not that some Persocom 'stole' him." Her words were sounding sharper with every syllable, so piercing that they were cutting into the teacher's heart like it was butter. "I hate women like you; women who blame the other person first instead of their mate. Sometimes they're pursued; sometimes they don't say they're married. But the thing is that he was a cheat. In the end he wanted to replace you. If they could, I'm sure that a lot of them would replace women with Persocoms—it'd be _Stepford Wives_ all over again."

"Stepford _what_?" said Ms. Shimizu, the reference obviously being lost upon her.

Garrett and Amber had seen both versions of the film: the old version and the _ancient_ version, so both of them opened their mouths in shock.

"She doesn't know _Stepford Wives_, Garrett," Amber shook her head, "I'm afraid all I've said had just gone to waste." Also shaking his head, Garrett grunted in agreement, folding his arms. People these days just didn't watch the classic anymore, did they?

"I saw that," said a voice from the doorway. "It was a great movie. A little too prophetic, I'm afraid."

That voice was totally unfamiliar. Who…what… Almost in unison, everyone turned and looked to the source of the comment.

Two people. A human and a Persocom were standing in front of the open door. This was surely becoming a pattern, wasn't it? The human was tall, with short black hair so dark that it nearly looked blue. His black and white uniform blazer indicated that he was in high-school, and was in, what looked like, planned disarray. From the white collared shirt, black pants, and red plaid tie, it all was ruffled and loosened very precisely. He was standing beside a teenaged girl with long white hair tied into short pigtails with little red bows. In the middle of her bangs were three red clips shaped like hearts—most likely where her connectors were. She had amber eyes, with spots of pink in the middle of her irises in the shape of clovers. Her uniform matched his, as her skirt was red plaid, and the blazer was the same exact style. Despite her young-looking face, her blazer was practically bursting, however impossible as that may seem.

"Nice to meet you all. My name is Kasuga Arata, and this is Yui." With his arm slung around his partner's shoulder, the young man pointed to Chii. "I'll be having the location of the gate, now," he smiled genially and then pointed to Amber. "And your heart as well, little butterfly princess."

"Chii wonders if you two are dumb," said Chii, pouting and folding her arms. Amu giggled at this and shook her pom-poms. It surprised Hideki that she had called them 'dumb', but Chii was changing more and more every day, so he did not comment on this. Obviously, these guys were a part of 'The Game', like the others they had encountered. A few weaker competitors had come up against them in the past few weeks, but they had been no match for the combined efforts of the eight of them, that was for sure. "Chii may know where the gate is, but she is a guardian. Obviously Chii _won't_ tell you two, even if you were more polite than everyone else. _Haumph_." The little Chobit continued to pout, staring at the two newcomers with mistrust.

Scratching his cheek, Arata chuckled dispassionately. "Aw, geez, guys, I was hoping you'd cooperate. I mean, we're not here to cut it out, you know." He sounded like he was telling the truth, but you never could know. Then again, most people didn't just walk up to you and ask you to help them win a contest that could decide the fate of the universe.

Sneering, Amber snorted in derision. "Tch'yeah, right. I've heard that how many times?"

"Like hell that's true," said Garrett, concurring. More than of the people who came to attack Amber, either here or in the States, were psychopaths who wanted to cut out her heart. Some of those people had the good sense to present themselves as friends first—or at least as people who meant them no harm.

"Chii!" agreed a certain blonde.

Arata put his hands in his pockets, shaking his head. "It's a shame, though. I knew our targets were beautiful, but I really didn't expect them to be this cute." His eyes were glancing between Chii and Amber respectively. Unsurprisingly, Arata's stare made Amber bristle with discomfort. Chii only narrowed her eyes and continued to pout.

"Right back at you," said Garrett. "Most of the Persocoms that go after us happen to be cute girls, but your little friend really is hot."

"Thank you," chorused the two newcomers.

"Garrett!" Amber smacked his arm and frowned disapprovingly. Impossible. He was flirting with the enemy. Every day he was getting worse and worse.

"Er, sorry," said Garrett, scratching the back of his head, not even looking apologetic at all.

Loping his arm around her waist Arata gestured wildly with his free hand. "You see…Yui is a unique creation of mine. Her looks aren't original or new. You see, from her looks to her personality to her memories…it's all been saved. She used to be human."

Snickering, Garrett ran his fingers through his hair. So it turned out he wasn't the wonderful unicorn that he _thought_ he was, huh? From his records, Garrett knew that she had not been constructed within the Chobit program, so he must have had a lot of time and money to accomplish what he claimed. Even so, this girl before him could be called a Chobit, by all means, if what her friend had said was true.

"What a coincidence... so did I," admitted Garrett easily. "But being a Persocom does have its advantages, don't you agree, little lady?"

Shinbo, still too surprised to speak, only looked at the young man in awe. The past few months he has spent around the foreigner, had he really been so unobservant? Garrett's expressions, his mannerisms, everything had been so convincing. Just what was going on here? From inspecting Hideki's face, this announcement was no surprise to the normally flustered young man. If that was so…did Shinbo not really know his friend as well as he thought he did?

Still, Arata shrugged as if expecting that response. It had not been new news to him, so he must have had some very good spies.

On the other hand, Ms. Shimizu, who was in shock over having such a strange and shocking conversation in her classroom, all of a sudden found the strength to speak.

"But if you're a Persocom... then..." Her eyes grew wider as they looked to Amber in horror. What else had she overlooked?

Amber sighed. With a defeated expression, young woman pinched the skin on her forehead and closed her eyes. "Looks like our social experiment failed, Garrett."

Guffawing, her partner took note of her understatement and nodded. "Sure does look that way."

Without further ceremony, Amber grabbed hold of the headband hidden beneath her hair and flung the fake ears to the side. Winking at the two normal humans gaping at them, she stuck out her tongue, all her anger from earlier forgotten.

"My name is Amber Lee-Young, heiress to Gala Computers Incorporated. It's nice to finally meet you all!" She gave a knowing look to her partner, who had gotten the silent signal she had sent: _'Artefacts out on three.'_

In spite of this, the two of them weren't as subtle as they thought. Arata quickly picked up on their plan.

"Now, Yui!" he ordered, just before the others could reach for their cards.

"Okay, Oniichan!" Flashes of light streaked across Yui's eyes. Forming a 'v for victory' sign near her left eye she spoke in a rush. "Connecting to the 'Avaritia' Archive. Executing my Thema!"

A flash of pink and white light exploded before everyone's eyes.

"Arc Symphony: Starry Night Serenade!"

Every single one of the six other people standing within the room fell to the floor, immobile.

* * *

><p><em>A million little pieces came tumbling down around them. Reflected in his eyes was a fear so great that it could have made his heart stop beating. But she had come through, his mysterious friend, and saved them from a tragedy. The thoughts swirling now in his mind were a whirlwind.<em>

* * *

><p>Kasuga Arata stood above the five snoozing bodies, monitoring the data from their dreams. Two of them human, three of them mechanical. Sitting in a plush leather armchair was a Persocom. Yui, of course. Her eyes were closed, as she was a part of the slumbering party, and the four heart-shaped hairclips were now unpinned from her hair—they were used to extract four wire connectors from her head. Two of these connectors were connected to Garrett and Chii. The other two were locked into grey helmets placed over the heads of Hideki and Amber.<p>

Around this time, Ms. Shimizu and Shinbo would have woken up to find everyone else was missing from the classroom. Of course, the police would never believe the conversation that had happened between them and the two strangers.

The program that Yui was running now was directly liked to her magical move, 'Starry Serenade'. It had taken Arata two grimores and a cryogenic chamber to help preserve Yui and her research, but this was the final stage of his planning. Prettty soon he would meet the other seven of his friends in that paradise called Elysium.

"That's right, Yui," he whispered into the sleeping girl's ear. "Invite them all into your dream."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kowai Yume…pt. 1<strong>_

In the large, dark chamber there were cables. Cables snaked around every nook and cranny of the cavernous laboratory, like jungle vines. All of them converged upon one Persocom, who was hanging from the ceiling in a fetal position, as if the entire room was her giant womb. Her hair was a dark, silky black and it draped over her arms in thick ribbons, reaching past her thighs. Her skin was a smooth tan that resembled coffee inundated with cream.

In front of the girl was a man. He had a long white labcoat that nearly brushed the ground. His smile was wide. He also happened to be Korean and Japanese. His name was Dr. Shawn Michaels Lee-Young.

"As you know, my wife and I could never have children of our own, so we decided to build them," said Shawn, spreading his arms wide. "I'm glad you get to see me activate my newest daughter, Handel. It's a little embarrassing, actually."

Behind Dr. Lee-Young was a man wearing a shorter labcoat. His hair was a ruffled, mousy brown, and he couldn't help but reassure himself that this was reality. The Chobits program had been so top-secret that everyone thought it merely a legend. Now he was taking part in it? Un-flipping-believable. Dream come true.

"It's no problem," said Dr. Ravensdale. He had a clipboard in his hands, checking over the last few things on the To-Do List. "We only have to wake her up, now."

"Excellent," said Shawn. He beamed, his dazzling smile rivaling the sun in warmth. "Let's begin! Welcome to the world little, one!"

"Time to wake up," agreed Handel, pressing a few buttons on the tablet. "Rise and shine!"

"We're all eager to see you, Amber!"

Ever so slowly, the Chobit opened her eyes.

There was only darkness. She felt nothing, heard nothing, and saw nothing. It was a peaceful oblivion that seemed to last forever.

But it ended, as most things do.

Amber could not open her eyes yet, but there was one thing that popped up around her that startled her at first. Numbers and values, all of it code she'd seen thousands of times before. The startup processes for a Gala Inc. model, from what Amber could tell of the cursory glance she took. But what was actually happening was completely beyond her understanding.

**Startup Initiated_ **

**Loading parameters_**

**System OS detected_**

**Initiating OS…**

**OS X Platinum Monarch ver. 1.0**

In front of her, at least what she perceived to be 'in front of her', a white butterfly symbol was displayed. It gradually was filling up from the bottom to the top with a silvery color, like someone pouring a drink into a glass.

**Initiating Sound Card_**

The first thing she heard was a young man's voice.

It was Garrett's.

"I wonder how long it'll take to start up the first time?"

**Activating Neural Net_**

The next thing she heard was a soft whirring. It vibrated all around her, it seemed. She still could not move her arms or legs.

**Unlocking motor-sensory sections… 30%… 50%... 100%... Completed_**

Feeling seemed to leech into her joints and muscles then. Amber noticed from the position alone that she was laying on a comfortably soft bed. The way the soft sheets folded around her arms was soothing, so she relaxed.

**Initiating Visual Cortex_**

Before she realized it, Amber's eyes had snapped open without her consent. She sat up smoothly, taking in her surroundings. It was a simple room, with a bed and a desk lumped into one corner. On the desk was a lamp, but other than that there wasn't much in the way of furniture.

"Oh, you're awake…" said Garrett, peering over to look at her face. He seemed happy to see her, from what she could tell. The young man was wearing those god-awful glasses again, though.

**Vocal processes, initiated_**

"Nice to meet you," said Amber, although she did not know why she had the compulsion to do so. "I am your new Gala Inc. Persocom, Model: Eve. Please state the confirmation code found in my instruction booklet to start my configuration."

"Right," said Garrett, looking down into his hands.

Amber noted how less symmetrical he looked than usual. Was it her imagination? Why did Garrett look so…so…so _human_? More importantly, where was she? She knew that Yuuko had been able to travel to other universes, but surely that power hadn't been bestowed upon her, hand it?

Come to think of it, what was the last thing she remembered?

Garrett flipped open the booklet and found the code.

"Here it is… K - three - five - five - T - zero - M - four - D - three - V"

Blinking once, Amber heard some more clicking noises. Projected in front of her was a rain of numbers and letters.

"Confirmed. Please state your name for vocal recognition."

"Garrett Ravensdale."

Flashes of light danced around in her eyes. "Vocal Imprint generated. Do you wish to name me?"

"Well," began Human!Garrett, looking into her dimly glowing eyes. "I guess so. I feel like you should name yourself, though. I mean, I never asked to be a 'Garrett', you know?"

Smiling, she folded her hands in her lap. "Whatever you see fit, Master."

"But—," he continued, "you were just activated, and it would be weird to just call you 'you' all the time."

"That is true," agreed Amber.

'_This is really feeling strange,'_ she thought, contemplating this situation. It was slightly ironic, a little humiliating, and just overall awkward. But, she could not control any aspect of it. It was more like watching a movie, yet being able to feel every sensation that one character experienced.

"Your model is called 'Eve,' but I don't like that name, and it's a bit uncreative. Probably most everyone who bought the same model will do that. Your eyes are a pretty honey color, but calling you 'Honey' sounds a little weird. What else is a name for honey?" he mused in a low voice, looking over Amber.

"There are many things that can be described as honey-colored," Amber said immediately. "Other than the obvious saccharine substance, there are jewels like Topaz or Amber that could very well suit me as a name."

This Other!Garrett seemed to like these suggestions. He stared into her eyes and seemed a little excited at this prospect.

"Topaz…that's true. Huh." Grinning like some fantastic idiot, Garrett folded his arms. "I think I like Amber better, though."

Amber knew not what to think of that, actually.

After a moment of deliberation, the Persocom spoke. "Amber. I like that. Would you like to confirm that as my designation?"

"Absolutely," said Garrett, chuckling. He was staring at her more intently, now.

It creeped her out, actually. If she could have, Amber would have shuddered.

"There. Name confirmed."

"Great! Now, it's time to meet the rest of the family," announced Garrett, taking her arm gently. "They've been dying to meet you for a while. I wanted to activate you in private, is all."

"Please lead the way, Master," said Amber brightly.

Inside, though, she was shaking her head. She had to find a way to get out of this place before she went crazy. This really was a strange situation that she found herself in.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kowai Yume…pt. 2<strong>_

Garrett awoke from sleep mode with a start. He was so startled that he fell off the bed. His autocorrect feature wasn't working, so instead, he fell onto his face.

There was no extra input, so his radio gear must have been turned off. Confused as to why it wasn't responding when he attempted to switch it on, Garrett scratched his head.

Blinking, he felt his scalp more closely. No connector ports were there. The subtle indents where they were embedded were missing. In front of him there was no virtual display. No numbers, no values. Nothing.

His chest began to tighten.

Wait…his chest was tightening.

He breathed in sharply at this revelation.

What **the hell**, he was _breathing_?

This was really beginning to confuse him. Something must have gone wrong in that classroom. The last time he checked, Garrett hadn't been human for over four years.

He remembered that they were talking to Ms. Shimizu. The next thing he knew, he was pulling himself off the floor of…was this his old bedroom? His bed was in the corner, as always. A plain, modern desk was sitting on the opposite side of the room. Even Chell was there, standing next to the console at his desk, in sleep mode.

Okay, this was getting eerie.

Why couldn't he remember what had happened?

He had two theories, and both of them involved magic. Either his consciousness had been sent back in time, or this was a large-scale illusion of some sort. If it was the first theory, then there wasn't much he could do about it. Undoing it would take Amber's help, assuming she had told him her secret already. If it was the second, then breaking free from it would be impossible. He had knowledge of magic, yes. However, he left the wand-waving to Amber. In the sword and sorcery genre department he obviously was the sword-guy defending his mage partner. The only experience he had with magic was laying down wards or channeling energy. Amber usually gave him a magical boost while they fought, and that was pretty much it.

There was still that first theory. It bothered him, because, as much as he didn't want to think about it, time travel was nigh impossible. Garrett knew that Amber had told him that Yuuko had mastered it, so the possibility wasn't out the window, yet. If he changed one event, how would the rest of the timeline play out? Moreover, how many mages in the S-registry were able to manipulate time? From what he remembered there was only one mage that was able to do that. But they were dead, from what the grimore had shown.

'_Ah, but this really is troublesome, isn't it?'_ he thought, pacing now. _'If I can't break free…then what will become of us, then?'_

He had half a mind to wake up Chell and ask what the date was. Maybe if he explained things to Amber in this timeline, she would find out a solution. After all, this was before the incident where they were badly injured, obviously. He was human, and that was one sign of that. Amber from this time period was more like his current self. Bold and not afraid of her feelings. Why, once could say that their personalities switched around since they fell off that cliff.

Yeah, if he could just explain the whole situation, then maybe it would work. She was much easier to convince then, anyway.

_Tap Tap Tap-Tap Tap_

A knock on the door broke apart his thoughts. Glancing up, Garrett blinked.

"Come in," he said automatically, before he had time to think it through properly.

"Hi, Master Garrett!" piped the newcomer, peeking her head into the doorway. "You're decent, I assume. Not like last time, I hope, _heehee_!" Noting his proper state of dress, she walked in all the way. "Breakfast will get cold, you know!"

Looking her over, Garrett's mouth opened and closed repeatedly. The silky black hair she had stretched to her knees. A pair of white kneesocks covered long tan legs. A maid outfit, one that probably belonged on the cover of an ecchi anime, was what she wore. Bright honey eyes and grey cat-like ears aside, she looked very similar to a certain someone he knew. To top it off, she had a grey cat's tail as well, which was probably going overboard.

He stopped gawking and decided to speak.

"Wa…wa…Amber?"

Confused, the Persocom put a finger to her lips in thought.

"Master Garrett doesn't seem to recognize me, huh?"

She responded to the name, all right, but there were about twenty things wrong with this picture.

"M-master?" sputtered Garrett, his head beginning to pound. He needed to sit down. Either this was some sort of elaborate cosplay, or his time-travel theory was just invalidated. He plopped onto his bed with a heavy _thump_.

"You are my registered user, after all," she responded instantly. "You're looking a little ill, Master." She sat beside him and put the back of her hand to his forehead. After two seconds, she sighed. "Your temperature is rising rapidly, and your heartbeat is elevated. Are you feeling ill? Any symptoms of weakness, fatigue, or nausea?"

Feeling his stomach lurch upon hearing her speak, Garrett curled up into a ball and lay on his side.

"I feel like I'm going to throw up," he remarked, wondering what he was going to do.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kowai Yume…pt. 3<strong>_

Chii was not dumb. She sometimes played dumb, and sometimes she simply didn't know.

The person standing across from her had claimed to be Hideki, but obviously, this was not true. He looked just like Hideki. Same brown eyes, same cheerful smile, and even the same tone of voice. If it were someone other than Chii, then most likely that person would have been tricked.

At first she had not suspected anything had happened. But, more and more the impostor's behavior seemed to show through. If not for the similar looks, Chii could have sworn that this was a completely different person.

The real Hideki would not have asked her where the gate to Elysium was. After all, she had told him and the rest of the group that it was a secret. Only the winner was allowed to know its location.

Where was her boyfriend? In any case, Chii was definitely going to find out. First chance she got, she was going to run away from this faker. Now, all Chii had to figure out was how to escape from this awful illusion.

Maybe, if she concentrated hard enough, the others would be able to find her.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kowai Yume…pt. 4<strong>_

Hideki looked around at the harem of girls and wondered just what in the world was going on. Was this supposed to be a joke?

Eight, no…ten girls had surrounded him. If he hadn't been so adamant, right now he probably would be naked, if going by their expressions were anything to trust.

He knew he wasn't popular. He knew he wasn't extremely good-looking. He knew girls didn't just act like this on a regular basis.

Somehow though, he was being tempted by several girls at once. Chii was nowhere in sight, and the classroom they had been in was replaced by his apartment.

Come to think of it, there was something he was missing, Hideki was sure of it. Between the classroom and here, what had happened? Was he supposed to do something? Was this some sort of test?

With blood running from his nose, Hideki looked away from the girls. If he was that type of shameless person, he would have given in to his first instinct, that is, enjoy this situation. But Hideki was practical. He wasn't stupid. At first he had thought it a prank, due to its ridiculousness.

Banging his head against the wall, he grimaced. For a seconde he had entertained the thought! Ah, Chii was bound to find out for sure.

Taking one last look at the scene, he pinched himself.

It hurt.

Still, this couldn't have been real.

All of them were Persocoms. Not that he was being discriminatory, but honestly, Chii was the only Persocom for him. No, scratch that. Chii was the only_ person_ for him.

Now he wanted Chii. Where was she, anyway?

'_Ah, this cannot be happening! No, no, this really must be some sort of trick! What kind of dumb fantasy is this?!' _

He had known this was fishy from the start.

It just had to be magic, there was no doubting that.

He barely had any concept of what he could do about this situation, concerning that. Chii, even before he was introduced to the world of magic, had been odd. Flying around, glowing…and nowadays she was showing him spells that she had mastered. Every day was something different. Even that time he and Chii had fought with that Lestat person, he was just going on adrenaline. He hadn't consciously used any magic, not really. Just swung around his sword and stuff.

Running out of Gub Jogasaki at full speed, Hideki burst onto the street, tightening the belt of his pants as he did.

He was going to get to the bottom of this, even if he was going to lose his mind in the process.

* * *

><p><em>It was my fault for letting down my guard<em>

_I let you all down_

_I keep getting us into trouble_

_But what use is my "existence" if_

_I don't use it at all?_

* * *

><p><strong>*When Ms. Shimizu said "bitch", it's in English, sort of. It's a bit of a loanword in this case. Nonetheless, the meaning of the word when used in Japanese slang does not mean quite the same as it does in English. It means something like a "loose woman" who sleeps with everyone, so the word actually seems more insulting in this context.<strong>

_**Also, Yui and Kasuga are duplicates, but not exact copies of two characters from the manga Trinity Seven. I wanted a certain scenario, and I couldn't come up with anyone original, like Doctor Lestat, so I just added them both to the story. If you wanted a reference to how they look, just put in their names into Google Image Search, and you'll probably get them.**_


	30. Chapter 28

**MASS POST WARNING: GO BACK AND READ THE FIRST CHAPTER I POSTED, PLEASE. IT WILL SAY "THIS IS THE FIRST CHAPTER I POSTED."**

* * *

><p><em><strong>I found that "Love the Way You Lie, pt. 2"was a good song for this chapter. Not the one <strong>featuring** Rhianna. It's the one on Rhianna's album featuring Eminem; part two is almost as good as part one. The lyrics actually, inadvertently, really relate to this story, considering Angel. Both poems are straight from my brain, though, if you were wondering.**_

* * *

><p><em>You sang me a lullaby<em>

_When my mother died_

_I cried and cried_

_You never lied_

_My dark, soothing lullaby_

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 28: Arc Symphony<span>

_This trauma plays on and on—an endless loop of misery. I matched up our souls, and the pieces fit perfectly. That's what we call Soulmates._

_Dreams and memories can intermingle. You can lose sight of what's real._

_In the dream, I saw that you weren't my Soulmate. Is that true, or was that just a ruse to keep me questioning myself?_

_Because… I don't want to lose you._

* * *

><p><strong>Kowai Yume...pt. 5<strong>

Amber was taken through a strange few 'weeks' of being a Persocom. Interacting with this version of 'Garrett' was very disconcerting. He was just as she remembered, which was a little saddening. As a whole, though, she was not able to actually do anything, but was a silent spectator in the whole business. It was a very strange, but detached feeling of involvement on her part. Sometimes, if she concentrated hard enough, she would be able to move one of her fingers or toes of her own free will. Other than that, Amber was powerless.

The first day he brought her to college was interesting, though.

Apparently Garrett had used the money he received from graduating highschool to buy a Persocom. So there she was, strolling with him to see his new dorm in LAU.

"Looks like this is it," said Garrett grandly, looking at the door before them. R-42 was displayed in silver letters on the bright red entrance. It had an electronic lock, one that could normally be opened using an RFID chip or an electronic key from a Persocom. "Would you please do the honors, milady?"

Giggling, Amber's eyes pulsed with a bright brown light. She had received his dormitory key shortly after he had registered for a room. When the door opened, Garrett held it open for her and walked in right behind her.

"It seems our roommates have not arrived yet," said Amber idly, looking around the spacious room. There were two bunk beds and a desk.

Even though she had little to no control over herself, Amber didn't mind. In a few ways, this place was nicer than reality. She didn't get bad dreams. When she closed her eyes to charge, there was only dark oblivion. Garrett was nice to her. He didn't care that she was a Persocom. The other day he had scolded a passerby for catcalling her when they were walking in downtown LA.

_"Just because it's part of your 'culture'," Garrett had said, "doesn't make it 'right'."_

He also had said, early on, that calling him 'Master' was unnecessary, which surprised even his parents.

"This is great!" announced Garrett, falling back onto the bottom bunk. "We've only got two other roommates, right? So you can have a bunk and no one will complain!"

"Ah, that's right," Amber said, nodding. "How nice." She sat beside him on the tiny bed, and when he sat upright again, she bumped shoulders with the boy playfully. "You can have the top bunk, though. I don't like heights."

"Fair enough," Garrett agreed. "Most people want the top bunk, though, and I happen to be one of those people."

Yeah, that was typical of most people. Many an argument had been started over having the top bunk as opposed to the bottom bunk.

"Glad you have me, then, right?"

"Always." A sudden thought came to him then. His face became mischievous. "Heh, you know what? Now, I can do this without my parents seeing."

Before she could really process it, Amber was lying on her back, staring up at a frisky-looking young man.

"Eh?"

His face immediately went to her neck. A few moments after that, he was planting gentle kisses up and down her artificial skin.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Alarmed, the girl managed to squeak this out. For the first time in weeks, Amber felt the control of her body return to her. Her face was now filled with concern and hurt. It had been a nice fantasy, up until then. But that's all it had been, a fantasy.

"No," said Amber, drawing away. "No, I can't."

She held her hands out, preventing him from going any further with his intentions. Confused, the young man at on the edge of the bed peered down at the sad-looking girl. She had held hands with him before, and even kissed him on the cheek. Now this was going too far? Well, maybe they had been going a little fast, but he was just playing around. He'd never had a human girlfriend before, so he had nothing much to go on right now.

"Why not?" he asked, wondering over the reason why he had been rejected.

Covering her face with her hands, Amber began to sob. "Because this isn't real."

* * *

><p><strong>Kowai Yume…pt. 6<strong>

"Wh-what're you doing?" asked Garrett, keeping the grip on the leash as tight as he could. The curious little beagle, Shelly, sniffed around the sidewalk and wagged his tail. He was still a puppy, so he was a bit small, but that aside, he wasn't very much interested in the antics of the two human-things he was used to. Right now he was the star of the walk, he believed, so he was minding his own puppy-business.

"I always do this," Amber hugged his free arm tighter. She was smiling, knowing full-well how she was affecting him right now. "I always hold your arm as we walk Shelly."

A distinct mushiness made his thoughts get all fuzzy and clouded. Garrett's grip on the leash faltered.

"P-please don't squeeze so tightly," he begged.

"Why nooooot?" asked Amber, disobeying him because it was only a request.

"…"

Now he really couldn't think. That ruthless attack had made his mind go blank. Without meaning to, he let go of the leash.

A second later, the puppy ran out into the street.

Just a second later, Amber chased after him.

Garrett reached out in futility, to stop them both.

While smashing on his breaks, the truck-driver smashed into the Persocom and animal. Within moments, the two bodies were thrown across the avenue, painting the asphalt with blood and synthetic fluid.

All around the massacre, the cars and other vehicles were stopping, forming a curious circle.

In that instant Garrett dropped to his knees and screamed. The image of her body lying there immobile was too horrific for him to utter anything intelligible. With shaking arms and legs he crawled toward the bodies. Even though they had traveled far, he couldn't bring himself to walk.

Reaching out, he continued to scream. Crying out, his teardrops fell.

Around him, the dimension began to shatter and fall away.

* * *

><p><strong>Kowai Yume…pt. 7<strong>

"Chii!"

With her petite fist, the blonde Persocom punched Fake!Hideki in the middle of his gut. Instantly the doppelganger collapsed in a U-shaped form on the floor, coughing up blood.

Jumping put the window, Chii soared into the sky and dissapeared.

After being trapped here for days, she finally had found the backdoor.

* * *

><p><strong>Kowai Yume…pt. 8<strong>

Hideki ran through downtown Tokyo, looking around him frantically. Maybe he should call someone. Mr. Takeda, maybe? There were Persocoms all around him, and not a human in sight. He probably would have asked them to help, but they all were female, and they all had the same hungry look as the Persocoms that were accosting him earlier.

A multitude of hands lunged at him, but Hideki struggled past them, continuing to run. He had been slowed down, somewhat, but he didn't dare to stop moving.

So asking a Persocom for help was a definite 'no.'

After running away for a few minutes more, Hideki saw a sliver of hope. In the distance, he saw one of those free public phones. They were a rarity in this day and age.

But. A sea of Persocom women were blocking off access to it.

Steeling his nerves and keeping a firm grip on the waistband of his pants, Hideki charged forward.

"Come and play with us," beckoned his pursuers. "Playyyy."

"Get away from meeee!" Hideki cried, reaching out for the phone booth. His mind raced to remember the Takedas' number. Wrenching open the door, he slipped inside, and locked it behind him. Only half a moment later, the hordes of Persocoms had caught up with him. Their greed filled eyes pierced through him like bullets as they banged on the phonebooth, incessantly inviting him to 'play.'

'What was it again?'

Fractures were spreading through the glass booth, despite it being, at least it was supposed to be, bulletproof.

As quickly as humanly possible, he dialed the first number that came to mind, hoping that it was correct.

However, the second he pressed the phone to his ear, Hideki dissapeared in a flash of light.

* * *

><p><strong>Kowai Yume…pt. 9<strong>

Chii glanced around at the glowing tiles floating before her, touching them lightly. Every touch set off a light pinging noise that echoed across the dim space. Each tile had a separate simulation running on them.

Her friends were trapped within these fake realities.

Not for long, though.

With glowing eyes, the petite Persocom reached out towards Hideki, who was running away from a huge crowd of women.

"Execute program," said Chii, shattering his window the second he stepped into the phonebooth.

* * *

><p><strong>Kowai Yume…pt. 10<strong>

Looking out on the shimmering landscape of silver that comprised the floor, Amber wiped her eyes and watched the flecks of blinding light rising from the ground. Around her she could see her memories floating by on rectangles of light. She saw the first time she stepped into Japan, the first time she saw a ballet recital, and even the first time she met Garrett.

Yes, the more she thought about it, the more she realized how ridiculous it all was. This reality she had been living in had been nothing but crap!

_'Empty.'_

In the distance there were three forms standing together. Without even trying, Amber was able to know who they were.

Starting to walk, she looked around her. Reaching out with her fists, she shattered the memories one by one. All those fantasies were incredibly naiive. Did she really wish for that type of world, or did she simply like the ideas they put in her mind?

_'Worthless.'_

A Persocom version of herself? A still-human Garrett? What derangement was that? Her guilt must have been a huge factor in it. It should have been her to have been transferred into another body that day. That's what she thought every day whenever she saw her legs. Just her legs had been switched out—how fortunate she was. Even if it made her feel less human, she often imagined how it made Garrett feel.

_'Foolish!'_

Storming past the glittering white windows, she grabbed hold of the ribbon around her neck. Walking past the replaying memories, Amber ripped off the red ribbon. As the windows broke apart, they dissolved into glowing shards of light. Running towards the figures in the distance, Amber didn't bother to wipe away the gathering tears.

Starting to sprint, Amber passed by the memories, the windows blurring by at this point.

With sparkling teardrops falling from her eyes, she jumped, reaching out to Hideki, Garrett, and Chii. As she fell into the arms of her real friends, Amber couldn't help but smiling.

"The Nightmare is over…" she whispered.

* * *

><p>…<p>

They had been close before, but what had happened? In that dream, his worst fears had played out so vividly; Garrett knew not what to do.

He sat on the chair near Amber's bed and watched the sleeping heiress breathe. Chuckling to himself, he wondered why he felt envious. These days he only needed to "breathe" if he needed to talk. Otherwise, it wasn't necessary for him. Who would have thought he would miss even breathing?

Before Garrett's first body died, his mind, memories, and personality was transferred into the body he has now. Incidentally, this transferred his very soul into the machine. The second the transfer was completed, his human body died. It was very much like the process they had used to transfer Sumomo into a new body. Like her, he had had trouble adjusting to a much different experience than he was used to. It had taken nearly two weeks for the new body to interpret all the data loaded into it, but when it was finished, Dr. Lee-Young was there to greet Garrett when he finally woke up.

The sensations were very similar, not exactly the same, but very very real. Looking at everything in an augmented reality was a bit distracting at first, but now he could not imagine life without it. Handy windows popping up when he wanted something—if he had an internet connection that is, was very convenient. To recall information was so much easier—as having the equivalent of a human's photographic memory was just too amazing. There were many more benefits, but the drawbacks were also apparent. He could no longer eat or enjoy foods—that was disappointing. People would treat him as less than human, which was infuriating.

Worst of it all: Amber seemed to lose all interest in him as a man.

So that was the whole icing on the miserable cake of bitterness that Fate had baked for him. Only right before he had 'died' Garrett finally had gained the courage to actually begin a romantic relationship with her. Even though they had formed a magical contract when they were still friends, he still could barely spit out his true feelings. Garrett had been so scared before, so unconfident, that it currently disgusted him. Now that he had a second chance, he thought, why not try to love her properly this time?

From the beginning, even when he was human, he wanted to protect her from the Mages threatening to cut out her heart, but, as that nightmare had shown, she was still afraid that he wasn't the same person she fell in love with. They never acted on their emotions because of this.

It had been a day since they escaped from that prison of nightmares. Much like before, Amber had exhausted herself, and was slumbering before him. It had taken a good bit of mana to shatter the false dimension that Yui had created, so it was understandable that she was tired. Likewise, Chii and Hideki must have been drained as well.

Garrett frowned nevertheless. Six months ago, she had stopped crying herself to sleep, from what he understood, but Amber was still hurt from what Angel had done to them. Yes, she had been like a sister to them both, and then she had to go and declare war on all of humankind.

Bringing down Elysium? That was beyond crazy—it was blasphemous.

However, it wasn't impossible.

Yggdrasil, the tree that grounded dimensions, wasn't indestructible. One could take it down if they really wanted to.

Due to Yuuko and her awful curse, it was realer than anything Garrett would ever see in his lifetime. The threat looming above them in another dimension made cold dread pervade his conscious thoughts. Apparently Ragnarök was an actual thing; one event that either would happen or be averted for all times, as he had researched.

Staring at Amber with unquenchable passion, Garrett sat and brooded over what seemed to be their unchanging destiny. She was the only one who had not been able to stay conscious when they awoke. Only thirty minutes after waking she had fallen back to sleep. Amber had not roused when he tried to wake her either. By the time the quartet woke up, Arata and Yui had already fled—most likely in fear of facing them in the real world. After all, their way of opening the gate was actually a lot less aggressive than the previous attempts of other contestants.

Garrett had suspected that she had retained some brain damage, but the hospital had said her brainwaves were perfectly fine. Her MRI had been fine as well. She wasn't in a true coma: she just needed time to rest.

That's why, sitting next to the hospital cot, wallowing in self-hatred, Garrett gasped upon seeing Amber's eyelids flutter open slightly. The heart monitor had picked up speed—her vitals adjusting to those more appropriate for one who was awake.

However, when she sat up, her eyes still looked clouded over, as if she were still dreaming.

Garrett was 0.25 seconds from saying something before her face broke into a delighted grin. Confused, he reconsidered what he wanted to say, and was .72 seconds away from saying something, but Amber looked so happy to see him that he could hardly speak. She rarely ended up looking at him like that anymore, and even when it did happen, it was when she thought he wasn't looking.

Almost like she was floating over to him, Amber moved towards the perplexed Persocom. Her hands caressed the side of his face, and ever so tenderly, her lips met with his own.

A familiar sensation spread throughout his system. All at once, the memories of their past kisses overwhelmed him, mixing with this current memory. Almost instinctively, he kissed her back, damn all the consequences.

He wanted to take this further. Nearly every part of his brain was screaming to go for it. All except one. His conscience, obviously.

All the pleasure he had felt—Garrett willed himself to fight against the softness of her lips and drew away, holding her gently by the shoulders at arm's length.

"Wait…Amber, just wait." Now the guilt was sinking in.

She said nothing, but looked at him strangely, inspecting his face. Blinking, she raised her hand. The fingertips touched his cheek lightly, leaving feathery tickles vibrating across his skin. Bringing her fingers down his face, Amber examined the way his face felt, tracing a path from his cheek to his lips.

Slowly, Garrett could see the cloudiness from before withdraw. The bliss from earlier was dissolving into shock.

"No…" whispered Amber, finally realizing that this was actually happening. This wasn't a dream, apparently.

It wasn't right. None of this was right.

Oh, he was a damned idiot!

Amber sniffed. Her eyes were wide and glossy now, brimming with water.

"Oh, no, Amber, it's—," He watched one diamond fall from her eyes, glimmering in the low light of the patient room. Another crystal teardrop fell. After a few seconds, even more tears were rolling down her tan cheeks. Whimpers, soft ones, were coming from the back of her throat.

No, this was entirely his fault. He shouldn't have given in. Maybe if he hadn't been so eager to respond to her in such a vulnerable state, this wouldn't have happened.

"I'm sorry…"

Without looking her in the eyes, he rose from his seat and turned to leave. Every inch of him was dripping guilt and dissatisfaction. Now that he thought about it, it was stupid of him to have waited by her bedside. As Garrett departed, his footsteps left cracks on her already broken heart.

* * *

><p>...<p>

Dr. Ravensdale stood over a glowing blue mass the shape of a brain. It was sitting on a large, metallic lazy susan—fresh off the assembly line. He had goggles on, and his gloved hands were primed to pick up the precious object. The only thing left to complete this finished positronic brain was an AI crystal.

For months had worked with prototypes. The results had been astounding. Even better than they had projected, actually. Now, all that was left to do was to install the OS into the brain and install the crystal, not quite in that order. It had to be blank, for what they were working on.

He had just installed the crystal when Dr. Lee-Young stumbled in with death looming over his entire being. The Korean-Japanese man was so sallow that someone could have mistaken him for a walking corpse.

"Handel…put down the brain and fire up the inscriber…" said Shawn, panting. He had ran here, from the looks of his disheveled clothes and lack of labcoat.

"What's wrong?" said Handel, who had holding the brain, placed it back onto the lazy susan. It was bound to be bad news. That look—that despairing look that Shawn was giving him was evidence enough.

Shaking his head, Dr. Lee-Young looked like he was about to cry.

"They fell off a cliff."

Handel's eyes widened. 'They'? The way his friend said it, the way he looked…

"Amber's in surgery—her legs were…never mind that. It's Garrett. He's in a cryogenics tube, being shipped here as we speak."

Dr. Ravensdale saw his friend's mouth move, but the words were sounding so far away.

"You mean he's—oh God…"

"Not yet, no, but he's on the edge," said Shawn. His eyes were steely—hardened with determination. "He's on the edge, but we can save him."

* * *

><p><em>You rocked me to sleep that night<em>

_But it was only a dream_

_We never could cross that line_

_Our ledger was squeaky clean_

_But sometimes I have dreams of_

_When you did love me_

_You held me close when I cried_

_Although I said it was my desire_

_I woke up and continued to cry_

_Remembering the dream_

_Of when we became one and you loved me_

_Roughly, Roughly_


	31. Chapter 29

_**THIS IS THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE SECOND MASS POST. YOU MAY PROCEED.**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>I have a lot of fears. One of them was that I wouldn't be able to finish this story. Sorry for worrying you all, but sometimes I felt like giving up writing this. But I'll continue, because it's already been written in my head, and I want you all to feel the warmth of my message. The song to set the tone for this chapter is "Sanctuary," by Utada Hikaru from Kingdom Hearts II. Both poems belong to me.<strong>_

* * *

><p><em>One…two…three…four<em>

_Do you love me anymore?_

_Eight...six….nine...ten…start again…_

_What will happen to you, then?_

_Oh, no, what's in your heart?_

_Oh, no? You changed from the start…_

_Three…two…one…zero…_

_Stop_

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 29: Forget About My Existence<span>

_With solidarity in her heart, the girl closed her eyes and slipped into the darkness. She was ready for this final moment. All Hope had been lost. Not even her Very Best Friend could help her, now._

_"I'm going to die," she said with a steady, certain finality._

* * *

><p>...<p>

As the delivery girl trotted away, Hideki stared at the cream-white envelope within his hands. This was a highly unusual event.

"Mail?" Hideki was surprised to actually receive a physical letter. He hadn't gotten much physical letters since he left the farm. Nowadays most people used their Persocoms, so physical mail was almost extinct, aside from packages from online retailers and the like.

Inside was a card lettered in elegant silver script, embossed by a butterfly seal:

_Hideki Motosuwa_

_You are cordially invited to:_

_The 24th annual Moonlight Gala,_

_Hosted by Gala Computers Incorporated_

According to the invitation, he was allowed to bring two guests with him.

* * *

><p>...<p>

"You guys really suck at this," droned Garrett's mocking voice through the monitor.

Staring at the screen in frustration, Kotoko looked like she could chew through steel garters. In front of her was a video game, and beside her was Kojima, who had a nearly identical expression. For the past hour they'd been competing, more like losing, against Minoru and his insufferable friend Garrett.

A strange looking item floated onscreen. It was technically a gun, but the structure of it was far too unorthodox for it to be considered a 'gun' in all actuality. Three prongs were on the visible end of the item, and between the prongs an visible electric current was constantly flowing.

Apparently Kojima and his high-tech gaming pad was no match for Minoru and his retro-style keyboard.

Dragonfly had a little bit of inkling that the reason Minoru was winning had something to do with Garrett running the game on his side. But that was only speculation. Near Kojima's game pad, a little Persocom with a loose ponytail of pink hair lay on her side, watching the screen. Amu, apparently; the little mobile unit that Minoru had gifted to Amber when she first came to Japan. Of course, she was a Reishinka model. She had specs similar to Kotoko's when she was still a laptop. Amber should have been a bit upset at the time, considering he had bought and given them a competitor's brand. However, as Sumomo's recent body transfer had shown, she didn't need to be given a Persocom from her own company.

Just theother day Amber had been chatting with the little 'com and along the way the story of meeting Kojima and Kotoko popped up. Almost immediately she wanted to meet Kotoko, and last week Amu finally met with her.

Chii, Hideki, and Sumomo were out shopping somewhere, so they weren't joining in on all the fun. The last time he and Chii had tried to play a game, it hadn't been very fun, considering she had been missing for a good portion of the time.

And Amber was fluttering about somewhere, hopefully out of danger.

Meanwhile, Kojima was being destroyed by Minoru in this game. It was a little shameful. This was a puzzle game, despite the first-person-shooter setup, so it should have been easy. At least, that's what Kojima had thought. Not to mention, the Persocom who was running the software was actually taunting him much more than the human playing behind the monitor. Minoru was unusually silent the entire time. So much so that Kojima began to suspect Minoru of cheating, and perhaps the boy genius was just giving Garrett free reign of the game.

However, as Koji-kun was to find out, Minoru's skills were just as fearsome as he thought.

"Oh," intoned a robotic voice from Kojima's monitor, "it's not like you're even trying. In fact, instead of working hard, you're hardly working."

For the fifth time he wanted to strangle the machine behind that pre-recorded voice. Even though it had been in English, he understood what she had meant, due to the subtitles. Learning English fluently enough to speak with the Americans had been on his list. No one was going to one-up him on being a brainiac. Minoru already was able to understand half of the puns they muttered to each other about, despite his young age. Kojima wanted to understand their silliness, too, even if it was just a little. Why was Kokubunji besting him at everything?

"I almost forgot to ask," said Minoru from the other side. "Did you plan on going to the rally this afternoon?"

"We are," replied Kotoko.

Onscreen, the avatar fell into acid, and the screen turned bright green. Back to the starting point for Kojima, it seemed.

Meanwhile, Minoru and Garrett were already clearing their fifth puzzle.

"Apparently we are," Kojima said, clicking away at the screen. He tried not to let this failure get to him, especially when the A.I. in the game gave Minoru an insulting word of praise for completing the fourth stage.

Feeling relived that he had not objected, Kotoko smiled. Her eyes were positively glowing with satisfaction. "I already scheduled it on your calendar and packed a snack in case you run low on energy. It's in the fridge."

"Thanks," said Kojima, feeling more and more like a certain pattern was emerging in his life. Kotoko had been acting a little strange lately, since the resort, but his scans of her system showed nothing anomalous. Therefore, there was nothing he could do about it.

"It's an important thing," said Garrett. "Amber and Minako were chatting about it earlier this morning, and you know how those two are about Persocom rights. I'm up for it. We'll be in the third row, marching."

"Not the first?" said Kojima, feeling triumphant after launching his avatar halfway across the level's chasm of acid.

Garrett fiddled with the connector cable sticking out from his head. He looked to the ceiling. "Well, we would, but there's a chance that Amber's father might recognize us."

"Wait, pause for a moment," Kojima clicked the pause button. "So that would be bad?"

Clicking the same button, Minoru stared at the frozen screen before him and blinked repeatedly, gradually coming back into the real world. He had been so immersed this time, that the lines between his body and his avatar had blurred somewhat. Speaking to his opponents while playing was one thing, but putting the game on pause was another story.

"Oh. Well, he's a pretty protective of her…and we weren't exactly truthful about why we were here," said Garrett, shrugging. He was sitting cross-legged on the floor next to the monitor, looking up. Today he wore an all-black t-shirt that read 'The Cake is a Lie' in white block letters, with a picture of a slice of cake with a tiny candle sticking out of the top. His stonewashed jeans had several holes, but they were intentionally placed there by the manufacturer.

This didn't sound too good to Kojima. Holding his head, he leaned forward and thought about this situation. It probably wouldn't end well if they weren't careful. "So he has no idea you two aren't attending Tokyo U right now?"

Garrett thought for a moment. All the reassurances they had given him through email…most of them were written to be intentionally misleading. The more that he thought about it, the power of omission was truly a fearsome and powerful thing. A little guilty about their deception, Garrett's smile weakened. "About that…we did plan on that, but we didn't say when we'd go. Just that we'd be going. Soon."

Just from glancing at Minoru's disappointed, withering look made Garrett smirk deviously once again.

"How soon is soon?" asked Minoru, wondering why he was even friends-by-proxy with this Persocom. Their first meeting hadn't been all that amicable, but now they were conversing as if they'd been friends for years.

Garrett mused for a reasonable about of time before saying, "Just after this whole magical business is done with. It shouldn't take long. There's not many names left in the S-registry, the last I checked."

Minoru nodded. "I did notice that. Over the last few weeks, the names were either greyed out or outlined in red."

"So what's that mean?" asked Kojima, still trying to sort out this magical business.

"Grey is for forfeit. Red is for death," explained Garrett idly.

"There's a lot more red than grey," Minoru added.

_'So that means it's almost over,'_ thought Dragonfly, feeling a little more confident.

Kojima, practicing his English, muttered rather darkly, "They're dropping like insects."

"I believe the expression is 'like flies'," said Minoru, in perfect, unaccented English.

Sighing, Kojima sank into his seat.

Of course it was.

* * *

><p>…<p>

A chiming of bells went off in Yuzuki's mind. Ever since Garrett had keyed her into the security wards around the manor, she felt more at ease with leaving Minoru by himself. They were much more reliable than the normal security system. With practice, she could handle her artefact more easily than her initial attempts, and at this point, she had already learned some spells. Garrett had even showed her how to gather mana, which had been useful for spellwork, as their little vacation had shown. After the 'tentacle incident', she and Minoru more or less forced themselves into Kojima's research. Nonetheless, Amber supervised them, to ensure they weren't doing anything dumb, and Garrett hung out with Chii and Hideki, checking out the sights.

But back to the bells. It was a light jingling of melodious notes. That meant that they had visitors—friendly ones. After they rang out, the true doorbell rang.

Yuzuki looked upwards. She didn't stop cutting up the vegetables for the salad until she tapped into the normal security system. At the front door, she could see Junji and Minako waving at her through the cameras.

At that moment, she received a message.

**Hey. What's up, Yuzuki? Mind letting us in?**

On screen, Minako smiled straight at the camera.

**Hello, Takeda-san. I'm a bit busy and I'm on the other side of the house, but I think Anthy is closest to the door. I'll send her a message.**

Minako gave the 'ok' sign.

**Sure thing. We'll be waiting.**

Yuzuki sent a request at the same instant. After a moment, Anthy replied that she would be happy to let them inside.

Five minutes later, the Takedas were strolling into Minoru's living room. And just a few seconds later, they were admitting to something very strange.

"Actually, we want you to go with us for a slightly different purpose," said Junji, looking apologetic. His wife, on the other hand, seemed irritated when he said that, folding her arms and looking indignant beyond belief.

About an hour earlier, Kotoko and Koji had arrived at Kokubunji's. In great contrast, Amber would later on meet them all at the event. Likewise, Chii, Hideki, and Sumomo were still out and about, ignorant of these plans. Everyone else had decided to meet here because, as Minako had pointed out once, it was like their 'base of operations', and it also had the best security. Aside from Dr. Lestat, the wards had proved very useful.

Everyone present was sitting around a modern, eggshell-white U-sectional couch. Yuzuki had prepared a set of mixed tea of Pomegranate, Acai and Roobios. Sweet and fragrant, with no bitter aftertaste, the beverage was exceptional. A small spread of snacks was also spread on the coffee table before the small crowd. However, these items did not distract the everyone much. They were just flabbergasted that they had been, more or less, duped by the magical couple before them.

"What?" said Garrett and Kojima in an eerie monotone; hints of irritation lay beneath the surface of their current feelings of confusion. Both of them had heard a brief outline of the plan from the Takedas, but they were still trying to figure out what kind of switcheroo this was. Sighing, Minako tried not to sound too exasperated. "We know about your two artefacts, and we think it could help us out a lot."

"Us?" chorused Kojima and Garrett cheerlessly.

Minako was really hesitant to mention it, but the truth was the truth, so…glancing at Kojima, she nodded curtly. "Yes, I hear that you can locate any person that you've seen before; you've even used it on Junji, once."

Taking this in, Kojima scratched his head and tried to sort out his thoughts. Learning the full capabilities of his artefact hadn't taken long. Other than that, it wasn't that special. "That may be true, but it only works from a distance. I can know where they are if I look on a map, but pinpointing them directly is hard if they're moving a lot. The only reason I caught you was because you were in your classroom. I had Kotoko bring up a schematic of the school, and pinpointed your location, hoping you were alone. She transmitted the image to the exact spot where she saw you in the social camera in the classroom."

"So that's how you did it," remarked Junji, a little awestruck. It had taken so much involvement to find him, huh? It didn't help that in the past he had to privatize his number, because of the sheer number of death threats he had received.

Shrugging, Kojima continued to explain, albeit nervously. "Yeah, I call it the 'Soul Stalker', since, now, I can stalk you whenever I want, Takeda-san."

It even worked on Persocoms, which was very reassuring for Dragonfly, hence the name 'Soul Stalker'. If Kotoko ever went missing and couldn't contact him, it would indeed come in handy.

Junji chuckled. "Nice to know if I'm ever kidnapped."

"Anyway," said Minako, making a noise that sounded like a throat clearing. "We also know that what looks like a sword isn't just a sword."

Feeling a little proud of himself, Garrett smirked like a criminal who had just been caught selling perfectly legal items. "So you know it, huh? My other secret?"

"Other secret?" said Yuzuki, looking at the young man with suspicion. She knew he was able to hack into any OS he desired, and then there was the magical business, but what else did he have up that sleeve other than his sword?

Suddenly shy, Garrett fiddled with his thumbs, blushing like an embarrassed maiden.

"I'm able to copy any artefact I choose, and modify it slightly to suit me," stated the Chobit quickly.

"You what," said Minoru, almost dropping his teacup in irritation and surprise.

Garrett dryly added while eyeing Kokubunji's flabbergasted expression: "I'm pretty sure my Japanese was incredibly clear."

"Wait just a minute now, that's overdoing it," said Minoru, severely vexed. He looked ready to crush his cup into powder. What kind of sick joke was this Persocom playing?

"You could probably rule the world in a day," said Kojima, absolutely awestricken. He didn't know if he should bow or what. If Kojima had that kind of an ability, why, he'd use it to rule to world.

At these expressions, Garrett looked askance and tried to play it down. "Not really. It's pretty useless, actually. I mean, I could copy Hideki's sword, or Chii's flowers. But using them would be a hassle. I'd rather whip out my own sword. Amber's staff is just stupid to use, even for her, and her fan is also totally not my style." He reached into his pocket and took out his card. "Adeat!"

The card became his trusty sword.

"Minoru, hand me your artefact." Garrett waved the other boy over. Curious, the young man changed his card into a weapon and handed it to Garrett. It had been a book, a grimore from the looks of it, and on the front of it was a silver lock as well as several straps that encircled it.

After touching it for a moment, weighing it with his hand, and glancing over the object, Garrett nodded. He smirked, handing back the artefact. A few flashes of light danced within his eyes.

"Data analyzed." He lifted his sword and balanced it on his palm. "Now, watch as I change this into magic I can use!"

In a second, the sword he had been holding emitted golden light. A few moments later, Garrett was holding a perfect copy of Minoru's book. Within his memory, he archived the assemblage on magic for later use. Handing over the book to Junji, the section chief marveled at the artefact.

"Amazing. How do you do that?" said Junji, looking over the copy and running his fingers over the cover. Looking back and forth between them it was impossible to know which was the copy, and which was the original.

"I may have read a few forbidden tomes while in this body," admitted the Chobit breezily.

Launching to his feet and propping himself up with the coffee table, Junji pointed at Garrett, his mind reeling at just the thought. "You've read forbidden grimores?"

"Meh. It's not that bad. It could have damaged my brain when I was still human, but now? It only turned me into a living grimore, which is pretty cool, actually. I may not be able to use spells, but that's the next best thing."

Leaning back in his seat, Minoru was holding his head, wondering just what kind of reality he was living in. Here standing in front of him was a Persocom, and not just any Persocom, but a Chobit. And not just a Chobit, but a Chobit who used to be human. Not only that, but he could reshape magic and hack other Persocoms and who else knows what. "A LIVING GRIMO—you're not kidding."

Unimpressed by the reactions of the men, Kotoko tried to advance the conversation. "So you can copy Koji-kun's 'Soul Stalker', with no problems, then?"

Not even having to think about it, Garrett nodded. "Yeah. But I'd have to experiment a little first." Pointing into the air in front of him with his right index and middle fingers, he swiped downwards. A scond later, something strange popped into view. In front of him, seen by everyone else, was a visual display of light blue squares. On each square was a person's face. In front of him was Minoru's face, which he slid aside with a finger, and pressed his own image. While still in Junji's hands, the artefact began to glow and within a moment had changed back to Garrett's standard sword.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Kojima, Junji, and Minoru, gaping at the display in front of the young man.

Minako and Kotoko rolled their eyes.

"What?" said Garrett calmly, taking in their surprised faces.

Junji looked over the sword he was holding. It was heavy, and if not for the enchantments surrounding it, the sword probably would have weighed a great bit more. The professor shook his head in disbelief. "Garrett-kun, do you just get new powers as the plot demands, or—?"

Offended, Garrett crossed his arms. "Hey now! I always could do this! Even if this was a story, I'm sure the author planned this from the start!"

"Riiiiight, right," muttered Minoru skeptically, trying not to snicker at his expression.

"Then why didn't you use it before?" said Kojima, agreeing with Minoru for once.

Nervous once again, Garrett dropped his arms to his sides. "Er—that's…just like I said, it's weird to use another person's heart, you know? Sort of itches."

"What do you mean?" Minoru looked at his artefact with curiosity, then.

"Artefacts can change. They usually stay the same shape forever, but, when they're formed, they're often a representation of the user's heart**. Hearts don't just change, you know, unless something big happens, right? Like a huge trauma or something," said Garrett. He tried to explain it to the best of his ability, but he had been trying to put emotions into words, which wasn't easy.

"So what you're saying is that you have the ability to….reshape hearts?" said Minoru, drinking in this information like it was cold water from a well.

Nodding shallowly, Garrett dithered on. "Into something I can use, if we're being specific. Truthfully, all I'm doing is reshaping my mana into a copy of your own. That's why I have to analyze it first. It's like converting from one OS to another, like what we did with Sumomo."

Walking over, Junji handed back the sword and smoothed out his clothes. "Back to the matter at hand, Mr….Ravensdale, was it?"

Feeling dread eat at his positronic pathways, Garrett put his forehead into his palm. "Not you too, Takeda-san…just call me Garrett again, okay?"

"Okay," agreed Junji with a modest expression, "but hearing you were human once…that was shocking. My politeness was just acting up again when I heard that you had a real last name."

Minako sighed and tried not to smile, despite her husband's cheesy idea of a joke. "Junji…don't lie. You were just teasing him, weren't you?"

Not acknowledging the truth of the matter, Junji changed the subject. "I…er…Anyway, we need you to copy Kojima's 'Soul Stalker', and use it to find a potential terrorist."

"Terrorist?" said the three young men. Thankfully Yuzuki was occupying her time elsewhere, or else she probably would have objected to them going anywhere.

"Well, you do know how we're Section Chiefs within Tokyo?" Minako flipped her hair and sniffed bitterly. "Even though I wanted to participate in the march for personal reasons, our boss got wind of it, and denied our request for a day off. Instead, he assigned us as security to the event. It looks like an anti-Persocom cell planned to disrupt today's event with a series of bombs."

"They also happen to be mages," added Junji, "the bombs are probably mixed with a large-scale spell or a volatile potion."

"Great," said Minoru, opening his grimore. "Just amazing." He looked less than thrilled.

"Well, we might as well get started," Kojima said. He summoned his artefact and handed over the spectacles to Garrett.

"We might as well," agreed Kotoko.

"Wait until Amber hears this," said Garrett, shaking his head.

* * *

><p>...<p>

Thousands of feet and thousands of voices echoed out as one on the asphalt. The only ones out of step by a fraction were the humans. A good assemblage, around twenty-five percent, were human allies and/or "cyborgs" like Amber. Even Zima and Dita, who were also assigned to oversee the demonstration, were marching amongst the crowd in plainclothes. Marching in the crowd and the casual clothing, they were Zima's idea, but Dita wasn't complaining.

Some people were carrying banners, and others had signs. Some merely held the burning passion in their souls as they matched forward towards the future.

"We are people too!"

"We have rights too!"

"Don't treat us like tools!"

"Who'll deactivate you?"

Most shocking of it all—Meroko was leading this protest.

Her manager, Grinswald, had been sitting in his hotel-room, enjoying breakfast, when the television decided to show the crazy popstar marching among those other Persocoms. Although there was a sea of brightly colored hair and eyes, she was the most noticeable, with those ears of hers. It was the spit-take of the century. It would take the maid in charge of the room ages to clean up the coffee stain embedded in the carpet.

The news station, upon seeing a celebrity in the crowd, started combing the rest of the faces, and found Amber and Minako quite easily. So it was there for everyone to see, that the daughters of Gala's CEO and founder were protesting for Persocom Rights. Also, Minako's past fame was reignited once she was spotted beside the heiress.

"In the US, the supreme court granted two Chimpanzees with Human Rights. Why not Persocoms?" shouted Minako, her vocal processors emitting sound at a volume comparable to an electric bullhorn.

"Everyone is granted the right to marry with full benefits from the state. Why not Persocoms?"

As she marched, Meroko had made up her speech as she went. Each little snippet she simultaneously posted to several social media sites while she marched, accompanied by the last phrase as a topic: #WhyNotPersocoms.

Worse yet, when Grinswald looked it up, it turned out that #WhyNotPersocoms was trending. This was probably going to 'break the internet' for sure.

While looking at his cellphone in shock, Grinswald found himself beginning to sweat. Within his hands, it had begun to ring. He only had to see the first six numbers to know that it wasn't good news.

It was the record company.

Gulping, he pressed the screen and lifted the phone to his ear.

"Y-yes, Director Sulu?"

Grinswald was losing his job, for sure. This he could feel in his soul.

* * *

><p>...<p>

The carnage and panic surrounding them was eerily similar to another attack that had happened in Boston a few years ago. Not only that, but the execution of it had been almost exactly the same. Two bombers plus four pressure cooker bombs equaled widespread confusion and injury. Adding a whole crowd of anti-Persocom bigots who supported them only worsened the situation.

Dizzy with adrenaline, Amber was staring at the image of the serrated knife sticking up out of her ankle. Synthetic fluid was leaking out of the joint and she had to bite back a scream.

_'It doesn't hurt,_' she thought to herself. _'You feel nothing.'_

And it was true. There was no pain. Only the shock of being attacked was what was driving her heartbeat up, and aside from that, she couldn't move her right leg anymore. A dark stain was growing on her stocking, from where she had been stabbed. She had pushed Minoru away the instant she saw the knife coming down.

How had this entire event gone so pear-shaped? Garrett and Kojima had been busy helping the Takedas when the first bomb went off.

Unfortunately, they had learned too late that the anonymous tip had been false. They were chasing their tails on this one, trying to find the wrong people.

"This one's a Persocom, too! Hold her down!" Looming over her was a man. He wasn't what you'd call ugly, but the expression on his face had changed his whole demeanor into something vile and threatening. Behind him were three other men who had almost identical expressions.

She and Minoru had been chased into this alley by these four men who were adamant on hunting them down like dogs. She didn't know which was ruling their minds the most: the fact that they thought she was a Persocom because of her legs, or the fact that she was only partially Japanese.

One of the men held her arms, and another held her legs. The third was holding Minoru back from interfering.

"No, you idiot, I'm an amputee!" shouted Amber, thrashing against them and failing. She was unable to use her magic right now, because she was restrained, so it was impossible. A mere 20-year old girl couldn't overpower them, not the way they were holding her. She could have kicked the one holding her legs, but for that to work, both appendages needed to be operational, and the right one already had been drained of fluid.

"Really, little miss amputee, then let's see if you bleed." He tapped the flat end of the knife on her cheek and sneered. "Supporting these rust heaps is revolting."

Minoru kicked at the man's ankles unsuccessfully. He was wearing boots, like the others with him, and obviously that had been planned beforehand.

"Let go of her!" he demanded, reaching for his friend.

"Quiet, little boy," snapped the leader who was facing Amber, "we're making an example of this cyborg."

The man holding Minoru jostled him a bit, which really concerned his friend, despite her being in a much worse situation.

"Min-kun! Don't you hurt—AGH!"

He had dragged the edge of the knife across her arm to verify her earlier statement. The cut that appeared was shallow, but when the synthetic fluid on the knife met with the blood flowing from this new wound, it began to burn.

Amber clenched her teeth, staring at these bigots in disgusted fury.

The same man grabbed her by the hair, which, due to her dropping her disguise, she had let grow long once again. Clumps of it were gathered in his huge palm, which brought her face upwards to meet his own.

"You're a fancy little _hafu_, aren't you?" he said, taking in her clothes. They weren't cheap, so naturally they were also eye-catching. "I bet you have one of those fancy gizmos in your brain to help you walk, too. Tech like that eats your soul, don't ya know?"

Fuming, Minoru continued to struggle against the larger man without much success. He was only in middle-school, after all. For him to overpower these guys would take a miracle. Well, maybe not exactly a miracle…

"Someone help! Garrett! Kojima! Anyone!" shouted Minoru. This too seemed to fall on deaf ears. Or, maybe, it was due to the pandemonium playing out around them that no one could hear his cries for help.

He remembered the first rule Amber had told him: Never use magic in front of normal people.

He was always following the rules. Rules were a part of him. Still. Here Amber was, her legs being carved up like some living thanksgiving turkey. His eyes could not look away. Something within him was urging him not to move his gaze. Never before had Minoru seen hatred on anyone's face so clear and engraved like that. Just from looking at them he could tell that these men were absolutely insane! Minoru had his wand in his pocket, where it couldn't be reached. His artefact was in there, too.

Even if he could use magic in front of Mundane people, his wand and artefact were in his pocket, so they were of no use at all with his arms like this.

'_Think, Minoru,'_ he said to himself, '_you're supposed to be a genius, right? What the hell should you do?'_

What had that book said? The one they had purchased from the store in the resort. The very first line had went…

"Magic is all up to how much you believe in something."

The epiphany had hit him like a brick wall attached to a 10-wheeler truck.

Lowering his head, Minoru let his hands go limp against their restraint. He had been progressing well, from what Amber had said. She and Junji and Minako had praised him so much already. They had called him a genius. So, what was his genius worth if he couldn't help his friends? It was this terrible feeling that had nearly caused him to stop breathing.

Several spells were running through his mind at once. These men had to be stopped. Blatant attack spells were out, because he could Injure Amber. A binding spell was best, but other than ones based on the elements, he had a limited selection to choose from.

Not that he could could be picky...

Reaching inside himself, Minoru focused on the words and Intent he needed to cast the spell. Almost automatically, he felt his lips move, the words coming forth his growing indignation.

"Heed the Contract and Serve Me, O Queen of Ice…"

"What's the kid saying, now?" muttered one of the men holding Amber.

A swirling wind seemed to encapsulate the four men in front of him. As he willed himself to release the energy, Minoru could feel the mana leeching into the environment from his fingertips. He just had to control it. With a wand, it gave you precision, but here he was firing blind. It was a dangerous experiment that he was betting somebody's life on—there was no room for failure at this point.

Minoru's eyes glowed a bright blue as he spoke.

"Come, Everlasting Darkness, the Eternal Glacier…"

"My arms!" shouted the man holding Minoru. The hands that had been restraining the young man were already gathering ice crystals. He had let go of the boy just in time for ice to spread up his arms and freeze over solid.

"What's happening?" roared the leader, as his feet started to cystallize. The other two men had already dropped Amber, and she was lying on the floor looking up at the impossible. Her breath was cold, due to the drop of temperature, but, like Minoru, she wasn't freezing.

"Bring Death to All That Has Life…" With the magic pouring from him now, Minoru glared at them with revulsion burning clear through to his soul. "Eternal Rest!"

Their screams cut off midway as the ice formed over their still open mouths.

In the last second he had decided not to shatter them by saying the final, devastating words of that spell.

Looking up at her young friend in fear, Amber wondered if what she had seen really had happened. Wandless magic? Only two people she knew of that had accomplished that before.

"Min-kun…you…"

Without any words, the young man collapsed to his knees, and then fell forward onto his stomach, weakened considerably.

Fifteen minutes later, they were both in an ambulance, already on the way to Tokyo-Central Medical Center.

* * *

><p>...<p>

Kamijou Miki looked at his phone and sighed. He was at the desk in his office, looking over the report that Arata had brought back. What an idiot. Teaming up with him in the first place had been ill-conceived, at best. He hated Arata's partner most of all, considering the fact that she once had been human.

Reading over the report, Kamijou clicked his tongue:

_Dear EvilBro,_

_They were super strong, and tougher to break than we thought! The guardian-girl was the first to reverse Yui's program, which blew the whole thing. She released everyone, dude. We had to skedaddle before they woke up._

_I guess I'll find another way to bring back my friends._

_Thanks for the money!_

_Sorry,_

_Kasuga Arata_

Angel was standing behind him, looking over his shoulder to read the short report.

Scoffing, she pouted slightly. This was why humans were so unreliable. No matter. Kamijou was sure to come through for her in the long-run. He was the most reliable human she had met so far, and unlike those other impudent flies, he treated her like the superior being that she was.

Eventually, all humankind would bow before her in their final hours, eventually disappearing into dust and ash when she took her rightful place in Elysium.

Soon enough she would wear down those would-be heroes.

Soon enough this universe would ebb away into nothing.

All Angel needed to do was to send more pawns their way. Just like a good chessmaster should.

* * *

><p><em>Reborn as someone else<em>

_Your soul still craves_

_Its deepest desire_

_Even if it will destroy us all_

_You want to go through with your plan_

_I won't let you do that_

_Not now,_

_Not ever…_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Ah. I forgot to mention. I had mentioned earlier that Yuzuki and her 'sisters' were from Reishinka. A reviewer (read as 'my friendly rival'), pointed out that she was custom-made. I actually meant that Kokubunji used parts from Reishinka to custom-build her. I'll fix that soon. I hope. Oh, and does everyone remember Kamijou Miki and Angel from that chapter way back when?<strong>_

_****T/N: When he says heart, here in Japanese, the word he uses can mean either "heart" or "soul" depending on the kanji used.**_


	32. Chapter 30

_**"Bios" really sets the tone for this chapter. And yes, I mean to say 'Snype'. If you haven't noticed by now, aside from the shows and media I mention, all food and technology brands are either spoofs or borrowed from other fanfictions. "Roca-Cola", Gala Inc., "cBay," and "Snype" are all what I mean to say. Honest.**_

* * *

><p><em>Falling into Neverland,<em>

_Drowsing into Wonderland,_

_Prancing in that Underland,_

_Where no one seems to Understand_

_What is going on?_

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 30: Past the Eye of the Storm<span>

_Looking back on everything, it was inevitable that I had fallen in love. It was bound to happen eventually, and when it happened, I didn't fight it. I fell into the madness. But from that madness sprouted something far more dangerous: obsession._

_I had known this feeling very well. So well, that it was like an old friend. Incidentally, I was reminded of my past obsession with an old friend._

_An old friend from another life._

_Funny how my obsession almost made the heavens to fall._

* * *

><p>...<p>

It had been a good day.

They arrived as subtly as a fireworks display exploding.

All at once she wanted to vomit, faint, and die.

She had never been so afraid of blue eyes before in her entire life.

"Hello, darling," purred the man, grabbing hold of Amber's wrist and looking deeply into her eyes.

The bottom of her world threatened to fall from beneath her, and Time would not obey her. It ticked on an on, without missing a beat.

It had been a good day.

* * *

><p>...<p>

Meroko leaned over the touchscreen console, pressing the light square buttons in rapid succession. With two data ports plugged into the console, she looked over the elaborate puzzle and sorted through the problem as easily as she would sing a note. Bored beyond tears, she looked over the test in futility. She should have been writing songs, not doing these menial tasks.

However, her husband was still distressed over what had happened. Not just that, but his worry had increased by tenfold. He flew to Japan as fast as his jet could carry him, flanked by an entire crew of Persocom engineers and specialists.

Honestly, this was going overboard. She hadn't even got hurt during the march, but he was being paranoid again. If she had been human, Meroko was sure that Joe would have done the exact same thing, except with an entourage of medical doctors. Instead, there were these creepy guys from her father's company who were prodding around inside her head and poking her joints.

Joe, meanwhile, was staring with rapt attention at her tests.

"Dear," said Meroko, sounding exhausted. She slid her fingers over the silky touchscreen. "Whatever are you staring at?"

"Er…" he said, looking down, "just noting how beautiful you are." Joe smiled sheepishly then, looking like had had been caught with a dirty magazine.

_'Smart man, flattering me,' t_hought Meroko, smirking. _'After overreacting like this, he's bound to know that I'm pissed at him.'_

"Compliments will get you nowhere," she replied lightly, finishing puzzle 40 of 99. There were spiraling dots and straight lines zipping across the screen now, whirling in every direction.

Chuckling lightly, he shrugged. "I know. You're still my amazing wife, though."

Trying not to blush, Meroko twitched her ears. She really liked his compliments, even if they were simple. Even though she was concentrating on the puzzles, Meroko could feel her anger dissipate. "And what is so amazing about me finishing puzzles?"

"Oh, just everything…your speed…efficiency…" muttered Joe like a lovestruck teen wooing his girlfriend.

"Are you trying to get lucky tonight?" asked Meroko hotly, trying not to be swayed by his sweet words. But she was flattered, nonetheless, and her expression of pouty embarrassment did not match her voice at all.

"You know be better than that, honey-bunny."

Hearing her nickname made her face go aflame with color. She didn't mean to do this, but it happened anyway, and now her ears were pressed awkwardly to her head.

Somewhere in the distance, she heard the doctors snickering.

"Ahem." Narrowing her bright pink eyes, Meroko suddenly focused on the screen with laser-sharp concentration. "W-well, my speed and reactions are normal for a Persocom. It's you who should be doing these, not me. That'd be even more fun to watch."

Looking thoughtful, Joe blinked in surprise and smiled. "Really? Then I think I'll pass."

A wry smile peeking through her embarrassment, Meroko slid all eight fingers down the screen and flicked colorful tiles in ninety degree angles. "And why is that?"

Almost apologetic, Joe leaned forward and sighed. "You know exactly what the results will be."

That was exceedingly true. Joe wasn't any ordinary human, either. He wasn't a mage, but his brainpower did border on downright supernatural. The first time that it had been made apparent was when they had met at the Orange County Country Club, back in Florida, when the Lee-Youngs were visiting relatives. Meroko had noticed the precision of his swings had followed some complex physics equations. After a little chatting, they had decided to have a friendly competition. Later on, he ended up beating her, somehow, much to everyone's surprise.

Joe Black, her husband, was known as 'Lightning Flash Joe'. For reasons she already knew, the nickname was highly appropriate. His reaction time—the time it took for his brain to react to something—was one of the fastest ever recorded. His actual reflexes were a tick slower, but his brain was very very fast, especially for a human. So fast, in fact, that in the game of shiratori that Meroko had challenged him in that day years ago, he had beaten her. They had played it in English, which made it a little more difficult, but even then, after hours of spouting word after word, she had hesitated. The words she had recorded in her memory, she had needed to go through the list. However, Joe that day, smiling like a hellion, had sat there calmly in his khakis and polo shirt with folded hands. By the time she had come up with a new word, the time had run out.

Not only did he have a quick reaction time, but an eidetic memory.

"Yeah, I do," said Meroko, dwelling on the recollection with fondness. She had caught a fine one, hadn't she?

* * *

><p>...<p>

This was a bad idea to start with. Asking Kokubunji to set up this call through Snype was really pushing it. Even then, did they really have to use the projector to show his face on the wall? Yuki was acting as the camera, showing Garrett and the crew in Kokubunji's office. As the designated camera, her emotionless stare was glued to the one who initiated the call. Garrett, of course.

"Garrett, you are to tell me this instant what you two are planning," demanded the irate Asian man glaring at the brunet.

Feigning ignorance, the young man widened his eyes and spoke in an innocent voice. "Eh? Whatever do you mean Dr.—,"

"You know exactly what I mean, young man," said Shawn sternly. His eyes couldn't get any harder. If he could set Garrett on fire with just his thoughts, then the man probably would have done it. However, the little problem of Garrett being heat resistant to 4000 Kelvin would spoil such an event. "I saw you two on the international news. Your father was the one to show me the video. The PR department is going crazy—your mother especially. She called me in tears." Dr. Lee-Young ran a hand over his face. "What on earth were you thinking? Even Chell was worried for you, and you know how that girl is: bright and sunny for 24 hours, eight days a week."

Wincing, Garrett looked askance. He had refused to speak to his parents for quite some time after he recalled all of his memories. It was somewhat embarrassing to see them, after all. He wasn't the same as he used to be. Sure, he emailed Chell from time to time, but not as often as he should have. Now Dr. Lee-Young was telling him off about his family's concerns, and it made him feel slightly guilty.

Frantic, Amber stepped in front of Garrett and scrunched up her face. She was trying to be assertive, but unfortunately, her expression made it look as if she was constipated. "Daddy, it wasn't his fault, it was mine! I tried to protect Minako, and things got out of hand."

His expression softened slightly upon seeing his daughter. Sounding weary, Shawn spoke while rubbing his temples. Worry lines were etched into his forehead like miniature canyons.

"Amber, I know you want to stick up for your boyfriend, here, but that little stunt you both pulled is really worrying. I mean, sending some new legs wasn't cheap. And you were on the news. How is that low-key? Aren't you both studying at Tokyo U? I'm sure they'll hassle you a great deal more, now."

Her father's lecture was not unfounded. It was all true. Now everyone knew she was here in Japan. Especially after they rushed her to the hospital with a knife sticking out of her leg—that really made a scene in the Emergency Room of Tokyo-Central Medical Center. It had taken Minoru's quick-thinking to save her, and his even quicker thinking to explain to them that she was indeed human, and that it was only her legs that were robotical.

Minoru needed a medal—no, a new present, for being so helpful. Maybe a nice invisibility cloak? Those things certainly weren't cheap.

"B-boyfriend?" she sputtered, her face heating up like an oil lamp. Grabbing her head, Amber was still frazzled over that word. Feeling how her cheeks burned, Amber slapped them repeatedly, wishing the blood would stop pooling there. Slapping them made it worse, however.

"Actually," Garrett rubbed his right arm, "about that…the studying thing. We're not—,"

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH, GARRETT!" Amber ordered, her eyes bulging out of her head like glued-on gumdrops.

Before he could blow their cover, Amber tried and failed to tackle him. Instead, he sidestepped out of the way.

Naturally, Amber fell to the floor face first. "Ow…"

Scratching his head, Garrett whined, scrunching his eyes shut. "Ah, but it's really a pain. We're already in trouble."

Alarmed by the direction this conversation had taken, Dr. Lee-Young also blushed. His eyes were bugging out now, and he stared at his daughter in disbelief. As the realization dawned on him, the doctor realized he was holding his breath. "Don't tell me…"

Looking at the floor, where Amber was picking herself up from, Garrett gestured to the screen. "You see? He's figured it out by now."

Anguished beyond what was necessary, Shawn covered his eyes with both hands. "You two are already Fooly Cooly, aren't you?" His voice was brimming with dread.

Disappointed, Garrett stared at the enlarged face of the doctor projected before him.

"What."

Did Garrett really have to spell it out for him? For someone so smart, this was saddening. He probably was one of the dumbest smart-people ever, then.

Sighing, Amber tried not to contemplate the implications of his theory. She looked a bit exasperated from him entertaining even the notion. "Daddy, no we're just—,"

Becoming angry, now, Shawn pointed an accusatory finger at Garrett. "Aha, I knew it! You have been fooling around with my daughter!" He looked to his pouting daughter and sighed. "Amber, I told you to be careful, but you insisted on taking him with you. You two always were so close, but this is too far. Now he's gone and entered that secret room!"

Her blush gaining even more intensity, Amber positively shrieked, "No one entered anything!" in the height of embarrassment.

Skeptical, Dr. Lee-Young raised an eyebrow. "Really? No nighttime trysts? No 'accidents'? No temptations towards a tête-à-tête involving tongues?"

"None!" shouted both Garrett and Amber with burning red cheeks. That last one had hit a little too close to the bone, there. They were absolutely mortified at having this conversation in the presence of Kokubunji and the rest, but there was nothing they could do about it, now. Most likely, they should have had this conversation in a more private location, but Garrett couldn't really have both transmitted his message and spoke to him face-to-face.

Shawn wiped his brow and seemed to relax. "Oh. Good. Then that means my machine is still working."

"Machine?" chorused Amber, Kokubunji, and Garrett. This was sounding shady already.

Looking off to the side nervously, he scratched his cheek. "Oh, it's nothing really. It just monitors your purity, of course. It was still intact during the incident, you see, and—,"

If this was about what Amber thought it was, then she really needed to end this conference call, and quickly. Her brain was spinning in a million different directions. This was not happening. Her father wasn't asking if she was still a virgin. She was, but, but still—this was too much.

"D-DADDY! THAT'S SUPER CREEPY!" bellowed the girl at full volume. Somewhere in Kyoto a dog woke up from his nap, her voice was so loud.

The word 'creepy' seemed to bleach him of all this color, and Dr. Lee-Young's eyes suddenly went hollow. Looking closely, one could probably see his spirit leaving as he contemplated being 'creepy'. He just wanted to protect his daughter's purity, and now she was lashing out by calling him creepy for doing so. However, her reaction was exactly how a maiden should act, so maybe he shouldn't be too surprised.

"Creepy…" he muttered, "Am I really being creepy?"

The entire room nodded, varying degrees of disgust on their faces.

"Well then, I'll just leave now," said Shawn in a small voice. With a single finger he cut the connection, and the screen went dark.

"That sure was close," said Kokubunji, his forehead cradled in his hands. "Any more awkward conversations you want to have in front of us? I can record them if you'd like."

In response, Amber only sighed in anguish and banged her head against the wall.

* * *

><p>...<p>

"Today is the day," said Yuzuki, staring straight ahead. "Today is the day." Looking up and down her full figure, she stood in front of the mirror, examining her clothes. Recently she had also become interested in fashion. Sometimes she wondered if she could pull off casual clothes. The swimsuit at the resort had been a nice change of pace.

"Today is the day," lied Yuzuki. "I'll tell him today."

She left the room then, her emotions a jumble of worry and fear.

* * *

><p>...<p>

ComiFest. One of the largest assemblages of nerds the world had to offer. It had a counterpart in America, that is, ComicCon, but since Garrett and Amber no longer lived in California, this was the next best thing. It was a tradition between them, to dress up and go to ComicCon. Now they had several other charges with them, and it seemed like they had a lot more learning to do.

Now, it was well-known that Amber was rich. Crazy rich. Obscenely rich. This, of course, meant she could spend insane amounts of money to have tailor-made cosplay outfits. Kojima and Kotoko had opted to stay home, considering the fiasco that the march had been. Regarding this latest excursion, the duo had refused to 'make idiots of themselves', so they had an extra excuse not to go. This made them perfect candidates to 'babysit' Amu and Sumomo, who were quickly becoming as close as sisters. The pink-haired co-conspirators were most likely testing the patience of both Kotoko and her irascible human.

On the other hand, Hideki and Chii were not hard to convince to go, since, they both didn't mind trying out new things.

Yuzuki also seemed wary of leaving the house. If not for the fact that Minoru was going to this event, she wouldn't have left for any reason.

Of course, Amber felt she had to compensate for the horror that had ensued the other day. That day Minoru had more or less 'lost his innocence', and used magic to save her. Afterwards, they both had been questioned by Minako and Junji, separately. Since Minoru had not used any visible medium to transmit his mana, added with the fact that he was underage, the whole incident had been attributed to accidental magic.

Still, that had been close.

By some mix-up, the Anti-Persocom cell had been incorrectly identified as mages by their anonymous tip. If they had used magic within view of all those people and cameras, then it would have been a catastrophe. It was almost a boon, being chased into that alleyway. Otherwise, the whole thing could have blown into a giant snowball of even more panic. The Council could have gotten involved, if that had happened.

However, all that unpleasantness was far behind them, now. Or, at least, they pretended it was. Dwelling on one traumatic incident would not do them any good. The chances of the same event repeating itself were slim.

Nevertheless, Garrett was one of the most excited of the bunch that had decided to go. As hilariously ironic as it was, he was cosplaying as Night from "Absolute Boyfriend." Not that anyone knew that, of course. A Persocom dressing up as an android who looked like a handsome young man was not an easy thing to spot. They all just thought he was an attractive foreigner here to check out ComiFest.

Minoru was dressed in elaborate, Elizabethan-style clothes that were mostly dark blue. Walking with a tiny cane through the convention center, he kept a dour look on his face, despite smiling on the inside. A simple black eyepatch covered over one of his eyes. If removed, it would reveal the highly stylized circle lens he was wearing. In fact, his costume was so detailed that several girls his own age had no trouble knowing who he was. He even spoke in English to highlight it. Yes, pretending to be Ceil Phantomhive from 'Black Butler' was certainly as fun as his American friends had promised. Not that he watched the show, but he did give it a glance. It was pretty old, so he had to go buy some DVDs on cBay.

Chii, with a little help from Amber, had her hair held into temporarily curled pigtails. She also was sporting the retro Western style that matched Minoru. She was supposed to be Lizzie, Ceil's fiancée, and as such, she had a fake rapier hanging from a holster on her waist.

Hideki was probably the one who had transformed the most, considering the fact that he and Chii did not match. He had refused to dye his hair black, as Chii and Amber had wanted. Otherwise, he would have been Sebastian from 'Black Butler'. Instead, he was wearing green circle lenses. His outfit was mostly black, trimmed with white. It wasn't that bad, but hardly anyone knew who he was supposed to be—even fans of the series had a hard time figuring it out. Of course, considering his height, it would have been a stretch for him to be recognized, anyway. Hideki was supposed to be Teito Klein from 07 Ghost, but that character was not considered tall at all.

Amber's costume was probably one of the hardest to ascertain, as the series was more obscure. Gothic Lolita-style clothes were only one clue. Her hair had been pressed out straight. The curls had compressed her hair, but now they were unfurled, it reached the middle of her back. Extensions were added to make it look longer than it already was, so the length reached her knees. Her outfit also had the echoes of irony. She was cosplaying as Kurokochōhime, from "Rolitania." A magical heiress who was deemed 'The Black Butterfly Princess,' was dressed up as an Esper whose name meant 'Black Butterfly Princess.'

Yuzuki merely remained in her normal, everyday clothes, and everyone they met insisted she looked like a maid from series X or Y, despite it being what she usually wore. People who recognized Minoru as Ceil were assuming that she was supposed to be his maid Meyrin, even though she wasn't wearing any glasses, and her hair was the wrong color. She was still worried about Minoru, though. Twice, he had been in serious danger, and both times she had not been able to help. This time, she was sticking close, in case anything happened. Not that anything was going to happen for sure, but because she wanted to be careful.

"Chii likes to pretend," said our cutest heroine, waving around her plastic rapier as she marched next to Minoru. Minoru was exuding a very stately air, most likely from the small accomplishment of his cosplay being admired. It had been a trial to have him try to cosplay, but Garrett had finally convinced him to settle for the character he was dressed as now.

After a few minutes, Chii noticed an interesting booth, and went off to examine it, followed closely by Hideki. He promised to meet them to watch the voice acting competition later on.

Wading through the crowd, the quartet approached the booth of an art circle, looking on in curiosity. There were some original works beside doujinshi of already popular works. Minoru, although not an avid reader of manga, could see the appeal of these fan-made comics. Standing by his side, Yuzuki noticed Minoru's rising level of interest and smiled amiably.

"Did you want to buy one of our books?" asked the girl standing at the booth. She had beaten Yuzuki to the question, but it was her job to anticipate new customers, after all. Behind her wide spectacles was a pair of gold-rimmed eyes, cosmetic contacts from the look of it. Her copper-dyed hair was pulled into a loose ponytail that swept over her shoulders lightly. If Minoru didn't know any better, she seemed to be looking over her new customers with a hungry expression.

"Well," said Minoru, glancing over the covers for a character he might recognize. "I could consider it. The art is really...good after all." He refused to use the word 'cute' right now while dressed the way he was. Next thing he knew he'd be a copy of Amber, for goodness sake. That was the last thing he wanted. This whole outing was a deliberate attempt to remove his mind from the incident the other day; Minoru was all too aware of that. It was working somewhat, but he couldn't help but feel guilty. Not because he had nearly killed those jerks, no, that wasn't it.

If he had indeed killed them, and immediately felt terrible for it, Minoru would have been able to cope with that. It was the fact that he had enjoyed the thought of killing them.

In those few moments that he had guided the mana to freeze them, Minoru had savored it, that murderous feeling.

"Sir?"

The voice from the woman at the booth helped him to snap back to reality.

"Eh?" Minoru blushed and looked down. "Sorry, but I was lost in thought. What was it you were saying?"

"I was just recommending one of Azutada-sensei's most recent works," said the cheerful girl named Kaori.

"Azutada-sensei?" Minoru said, confused. If there ever was a pen name, that was on top of the list of the most unique he had heard.

"Sensei a professional. I'm just her assistant, actually, but every year we form an art circle with the other assistants. She really loves all the shoujo/seinen borderline works, and tries to churn out as much content as she can."

Amber blinked in disbelief. She couldn't imagine how much work that took. "Wow, that's amazing. She mustn't sleep much if she can accomplish so much."

"Not to mention she must have an army of assistants," added Garrett smugly.

Kaori shook her head, smiling. "No, no. Azutada-sensei can finish two chapters a night, without our help. With my colleagues Marika and Sada, and adding myself, we can double that amount. Sensei doesn't need to sleep, actually. I'm a bit jealous of that."

"So she's a Persocom," said Garrett, trying not to grin. "I don't think I could ever be that artistic. Never was."

"Th-that's right," said Kaori, flabbergasted that he was able to deduce that so quickly. "And you also are...?"

Noting her awestruck expression, the young man sighed contentedly. "Yes, little lady, I'm a Persocom," Garrett confirmed.

Examining her expression closely, Garrett could already see her firey otaku passion igniting within her eyes. She looked ready to drool on herself right there and then. He knew he was bound to meet one here, a Persocom otaku. He used to be that in the past, when he was human. He happened to be an otaku Persocom, so it shouldn't have been surprising.

"Can I have your email?" stuttered out Kaori, reaching for a pen and paper. There was an abundance of stationary beneath the booth, so it didn't take long for her to hold it out towards Garrett.

"H-hold on. Why for?" Garrett's logic center went haywire, trying to sort through what oddities this girl was planning. Sure, she was pretty, but, but he barely knew her. He glanced at Amber cautiously. Right now her mouth was slipping into a small frown. Bad sign. She was going to give him hell later if he didn't play this right.

Kaori shrugged. "Um...I don't know. I could email you later, and talk about anime, and maybe we could go on a date?" she asked hopefully, wondering if her pickup line was subtle enough.

"Date?" exclaimed four incredulous youngsters with varied expressions. Garrett seemed amused, whilst Minoru was confused, and Amber was somewhat indignant. Chii was more delighted than surprised, but Yuzuki merely raised an eyebrow in question.

Kaori took only half a second to process their responses. Abashed, she bopped herself on the head. "Ah, I'm sorry, I guess I got carried away. I just turn into an idiot around Persocom men."

"Eh, what's that?" Garrett had trouble not smiling like an idiot.

"Garrett," warned Amber, her aura of anger now shrouding her like a cloak, "don't even start flirting." Her voice was so sharp it could have sliced through the universe itself, if she wanted.

"What do you mean?" asked Yuzuki, wondering as to what the girl meant.

Kaori looked down sheepishly and poked her fingers together. "Um…it's a little like preferring blondes or redheads. Actually, you should have seen me around this blond Persocom guy that came around to the booth earlier. I went totally bonkers. I ended up giving him a free book, aheh." She scratched behind her neck, then, looking nervous.

"You seriously have it bad..." said Amber huffily. At least she wasn't one of those bigots that the heiress wanted to mash into people-paste.

"Yeah, I'm taken though, so..." said Garrett, bringing Amber close to his chest, indicating his attachment to the petite heiress.

Embarassed, Amber couldn't do much but blush in silence.

"Yeah, I figured as much when I saw your girlfriend's horrified expression." Kaori giggled knowingly, looking as if she was being tickled by sentient feathers.

"Girlfriend," muttered Amber numbly, looking askance with a sour grimace.

Watching the irritable girl mumble to herself, Kaori squinted, adjusting her glasses. "Come to think of it, she looks familiar..."

"Ah, she's no one," Minoru said, stepping forward a bit more. Obviously some people might recognize Amber from television, as the incident had happened very recently, but she was dressed up today, so avoiding that would've been good.

"Al-right?" said Kaori absently. She was distracted by his nervousness, and decided to let the matter drop.

"Um, so, I want to buy this one, please," said Minoru meekly. He was holding a doujin entitled 'Sweet-Blood'. On the cover was a fox-girl with golden fur. Her hair was light lavender, however. She was sprawled on the ground in a puddle of blood. The red liquid coated her fingertips and ran down her chin. Her head was resting on the floor as she absently licked her hand. Tears were flowing from her eyes.

All too quickly, the atmosphere snapped back into a happy, obsessive whirlwind of chatter.

"Oh, the cute Shota has taste!" Kaori clapped her hands. "That doujin is one of my favorites. We worked on it after reading My Little Youkai—I just love the light novels! It's on its tenth volume already."

Nodding now, Minoru felt a little less guilty, and was now matching her pace of enthusiasm.

"Yeah, I really liked the plot of volume seven. Mai is obviously my...favorite. Next time I want to cosplay as her husband Hideyoshi. I might dye my hair for it, though." No way was he going to call her his wife. From what he knew, Amber had several 2D 'wives' and 'husbands'. Heck, she had a whole harem. Yup, Minoru wasn't about to look that desperate.

...the real question was, why did he keep comparing himself to that geeky American, anyway?

Kaori smirked and eyed the middle-school boy with interest. "Oh, so you like the Loli, eh? But I guess for you she's more appropriate, right? I've been designing a dakimakura pillow with her on it—you want to see the prototype?"

"Don't corrupt Min-kun with that!" objected Amber, now regretting her plan to turn Minoru into an otaku. This was going way too fast for her to analyze. Light novels and manga and anime was fine, but now he was going straight into character pillows with ecchi poses on them? He had skipped right over the posters!

"I don't hear him objecting," said Garrett slyly, giving Minoru the nod of acceptance.

Minoru whirled around to face Garrett and blushed deeply. "We-well, that's—"

Before Minoru could fully explain himself, Yuzuki stepped forward and paid for the book. Within a minute, she had dragged the three of them away from the booth, an irritated expression etched into her face.

* * *

><p>...<p>

The voice acting competition was coming up soon, as it the event to be displayed in the middle of the convention hall. As a sizable crowd was already gathering to wait for the event to begin. To enter you had to submit a form at least one month in advance. Amber had wanted to perform, but she had been so busy lately that she had missed the deadline.

Hideki and Chii arrived with time to spare, the former carrying bags with colorful characters on it. Chii was glowing with happiness, of course, while her boyfriend was burdened with the books she had bought.

When the time for the MC to begin the competition rolled around, something else happened. For example, normally a man would walk out and announce what was going to happen. Instead, over the speakers a loud voice screeched into existence.

"We're sorry to interrupt this scheduled event. However, to apologize for this, we shall substitute one form of entertainment for another."

"Ladies and gentlemen, mostly gentlemen-otaku of all ages, feast your eyes upon the stage. It's storytime."

There was a huge screen acting as a background for the stage. One would change the scene instantly, if they wanted. A pre-loaded video was playing onscreen. Dark silhouettes against yellowing parchment were moving.

From the first sentence, Amber felt ice slip down her spine. Looking forward to the empty stage, she felt the urge to bolt surge within her chest.

Onscreen, the shadow of a woman with long hair appeared. Around her was a multitude of fluttering butterflies.

"Once upon a time there was a woman who dared to study ancient, forbidden magics."

A giant clock with moving hands popped into view as the other shadows faded.

"Her aim was to discover the 'theme' of her soul."

This last shadow disappeared, and the woman's shadow came back, but in a different pose. She was reaching towards a giant tree. Standing in front of the tree was another woman.

"Her name was Yuuko, but it also wasn't. In her desperation to bring back a single girl from death, she opened the gate to Elysium."

Everything exploded like a fireworks display onscreen. The shadow of Yuuko fell, and morphed into a dark circle.

"However, this set off a cosmic chain of events that punished her for trying to bring back a soul. That is, she was reborn as someone else."

Swirling lines of what represented magic shot across the screen.

"In her last act of desperation, there are three curses that that woman left behind."

The silhouette of a pair of young girls holding hands appeared. They looked identical from the overall shape. Behind them an imposing iron gate slid into view.

"The First is the 'appointment' of 'guardians' who were to act as markers for the gate to Elysium."

Another girl, one with long, curly hair, appeared. She held her arms to her chest. In the middle of this shadow was the cutout of a heart.

"The second was the key to pry it open, that is, the heart of her successor."

A multitude of circles, most likely representing a crowd, took over the screen.

"The third was an unusual fear of 'death' in over 180 mages who had 'suffered loss'."

The next moment, the screen went dark.

"And when you put those three together, you get this delicious murder game."

There was an enormous puff of white smoke that came from the middle of the stage. From it emerged two figures, both men. One had a pair of white gloves. The other had a long sword staked into the ground beside him. The one with the sword was the one who had been speaking, from the looks of it.

"Being cursed is a great inconvenience. It will eat your mind away, as you and everyone around you fall to ruin." Staring right at the trmebling heiress in front of him, he smirked. This entire show had been so fun to put on, but now he had to move on to the real even. "I sympathize with you, Miss Lee-Young, but it's said that only cutting out the heart of the butterfly will cleave open the gates of Elysium. You are someone who must die."

And the man with the gloves clapped his hands.

A bolt of bright pink light issued forth in all directions. His partner was unaffected, but all the humans within a certain radius were pushed to the ground.

And of course, that was when the screaming started. These people weren't dumb. They'd seen enough media to know what kinds of situations to avoid. This was exactly the kind of situation that some one was supposed to run away from as fast they could. Which is exactly what they did.

Except for the heroes, of course. They had to stay here and fight the bad guys, as usual. They were the ones being tarteted, anyway, so for them running away would have been a stupid choice.

If Dragonfly was here, though, he probably wouldn't have cared.

"Everyone, you know what to do," said Garrett, already taking out his card.

"Adeat!" shouted the squad of six mages.

'No one is hurting Minoru on my watch,' thought Yuzuki. 'Not while I'm alive.' Along with everyone else, she had summoned her weapon. However, in her case, Yuzuki had changed her artefact to become twin pistols.

Minoru would have gaped at his own artefact if he had the time. The spellbook he held within his hands had certainly changed from when he last used it. For one it was much bigger. When he called it, it had plopped into his hands with a huge fwump. Thankfully, he had, as Garrett had suggested, bought a magical ring. It worked just as well as a wand, but it did require a tad more mana to work. After that fiasco at the march, Minoru never wanted to be without something to protect himself. Wandless magic was simply too draining to maintain.

Chii and Hideki were similarly prepared to brawl, standing close to each other and holding out their respective weapons. Likewise, Garrett was at Hideki's side, also pointing his weapon at the villains presented before them.

"Wha—," Amber looked to her hand, where the card still remained. "It won't change."

* * *

><p><em>Maybe I'll remember you<em>

_If I try to forget,_

_But the more I forget_

_The more I remember you_

_Which is why I forgot in the first place_

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: Hey everyone. I seemed to have really tried to end this series on a loud note. I hope you like the ending. The last chapters will be posted right after this batch! Garrett and Amber will appear in an original story that my Patreon supporters will receive for free! So, watch out for it, if you want to read it.**_


	33. Chapter 31

**_MASS POST WARNING: GO BACK AND READ THE FIRST CHAPTER I POSTED, PLEASE. IT WILL SAY "THIS IS THE FIRST CHAPTER I POSTED." All poems are mine, this chapter._**

* * *

><p><em>What is the real aim of these hooligans?<em>

_i am tossed on these waves_

_i have nowhere to run_

_yet_

_in my darkest moment_

_i remembered_

_my "sin"_

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 31: Goodbye Lullabye<span>

It wouldn't be surprising if she had PTSD by now. Being hunted for a good portion of your life can certainly do that to a person.

Scowling, Amber pocketed the now-useless artefact. The contract was still active, of course, it just wasn't responding to any of her commands. Amber usually used her fan as a medium to transmit her mana, but she was now restricted to the bare minimum a mage normally was able to use. Meanwhile, the initial shock of not being able to use her artefact was still setting in. She couldn't forgive herself for trembling, but her hand wouldn't stop. She whipped out her wand and waited for an attack, standing back to back with her equally prepared friends. For now she was going to have to use wind spells to keep them at bay.

Minoru, having examined his artefact thoroughly when he received it, knew just what to do. Upon inspection, the grimore was surrounded by a crisscrossing of straps. It was more like a case, actually, with two loops on the back of it. This, he realized, could be used to wear the book like a backpack. After experimenting with Yuzuki and the other Persocoms in the courtyard, he found that this greatly boosted his magical resistance, and helped him to cast some of the more powerful spells. It even had a special ability called 'Fall Net' that slowed down the way gravity acted upon the beholder of the artefact, resulting in softer falls.

Hideki and Garrett had their swords, of course, and Chii was already holding her bouquet, looking exceptionally stern.

From her peripherals, Amber overlooked this scene with numbing dread.

How crazy had this world become? Her friends were quickly becoming hardened warriors, ready to defend themselves at a moment's notice. Even Chii, who was such a sweet and kind girl, was developing a dark side.

All of it was her fault.

* * *

><p>Angel, accompanied by her loving partner Kamijou Miki, sat and watched the events of their twisted play run their course. Staring at the screen in front of them, the blue-haired beauty smirked in satisfaction and sat back to enjoy the show.<p>

* * *

><p>Two goddesses watched as the timeline shifted once again. One dwelled in Elysium, while the other sat in its dark counterpart. Two halves of the coin: the blessing and the malediction.<p>

Both watched as the fate of the multiverse hung in the balance.

Would the dimensions stay forever more, or would they eventually shatter?

* * *

><p>...<p>

Thomas's broadsword collided with Garrett's own. Wincing, the Chobit held back the weighty attack with gritted teeth. From measuring the force alone, Garrett had a feeling his actuators were being thrown out of alignment by just clashing with this man. He may have been made of military-grade parts, but he wondered if this person was really human.

What Garrett found odd was that Thomas's partner, oddly enough, wasn't a Persocom. However, Thomas himself did rightly classify as a 'cyborg'. Much like how Amber had an artificial pair of legs, it seemed that Thomas had a pair of artificial arms. This probably contributed to his monstrous strength.

_'So…heavy!'_ thought Garrett, feeling something akin to pain.

**Minako, we need help!**

A rain of arrows made of pink lightning rained down upon them.

Standing in front of Yuzuki, Minoru cast a shield charm. It didn't stop the arrows, but slowed them down enough for him to deflect most of the damage with his artefact. Its other ability, 'Damage Siphon' directed the energy behind them, which made several booths explode into paper, dust and splinters.

Sparks rained around Garrett and Thomas, the fleeting shards of light dancing in an emepheral ballet.

The response from Minako took longer than he expected, but nonetheless, she replied, which was great.

**Garrett? What's going on? You normally don't email me.**

He didn't have the energy to sigh in relief, but to get those words sent back, Garrett felt a little better.

**I don't know if you can, but some help would be nice. A shady mage and his partner are attacking us at ComiFest.**

The response was nearly immediate, if not for the fact Minako had to speak to Junji.

**Just a mil. I told Junji. Where you're at is a little out of our jurisdiction. The local magical authorities have reported that they blockaded it off already, but I'm sure you know that. Hold on, he's calling in a favor right now.**

Jack was snapping his fingers, which sent tiny pillars of light shooting up horizontally from the floor. Thanks to their wireless link with Garrett, Yuzuki and Chii were able to coordinate their movements to protect their humans from the ultra-fast lightshow. The beams managed to graze them all, but it was better than getting attacked head-on. The scorching beams had left dark marks on the carpeted floor, which would not have been good if they collided with flesh.

**Well, tell whomever it is that they need to hurry!**

Garrett could have used one of the abilities of his sword, more specifically, 'Attack Link,' to help power up his attack, but trying to explain that to Minoru right now would have been really difficult. He usually used such an attack with Amber, but she seemed thoroughly freaked out from not being able to use her artefact. If he was able to charge his sword with some ice magic, though, these guys would have had an even harder time pushing them around. Behind him Garrett could tell that Amber was not holding up well, mentally. She seemed to be falling apart as they fought. He had to knock her out of the way at least thrice.

"Minoru, back me up, you nerd!" said the stressed Persocom.

"Right!" Charging forward towards Thomas, the young man smiled roguishly. "Yuzuki, cover us!"

"Rodger!" said Yuzuki, morphing her pistols into a short-range shotgun. The scope on it was much different than the others, as it appeared as a lavender-tinted monocle on her face. She had seen a collection of magical guns from a magazine in the resort. Thankfully, her artefact greatly accommodated her, and she now had an all-new arsenal to choose from.

"Ensis Exsequens!*"

Minoru brought all this fingers of his right hand together in a tight formation. His hand was immediately wrapped with a glowing coat of blue magical energy. In order to help Garrett against Thomas, he needed a blade. Paper never beat scissors, so his book wasn't doing much, so he had to get creative. This spell was a pseudo-blade that stabbed outward in the direction of his fingertips in the approximate form of a sword. Minoru, since Garrett was distracting Thomas, was able to get in a few shallow cuts, but overall, he was protected by his partner's magic.

Currently, Chii and Hideki were trying to hold back Jack with flower petals and a sword. However, this was not faring as well as the others' attacks. He was very fast, and was able to put up extremely thick barriers to protect himself. Once the two of them broke through one, he would simply create another. Amber was trying to help with her wind spells, but he only used them to his advantage, somehow stepping onto, yes, stepping onto the wind and skating out of the way of attacks.

In midst of the commotion, somehow one of the pair slipped through their defense. Somehow, he passed by them without gaining any sort of dmaage. His steps had been so skillful that he had surpassed them in an instant.

Garrett, who was still occupied with Thomas, was able to catch the exact moment it happened. He looked to Amber, Jack's one and only target.

Her eyes were clouded over, like when she had woken up the second time from Yui's 'Arc Symphony'.

However, this was much different than that time. It was ten times more desperate, and a thousand times more dangerous.

"Hello, darling," said Jack, his voice so sultry it could be described as nothing less than a purr. "I'll be taking it now."

Garrett saw her trembling lips begin to part.

Warning bells were going off in his mind. He detected the spike of magic through their contract before everyone else could register its existence.

"NO! Amber, wait!"

In the instant Garrett's concentration broke, Thomas kicked him across the room like a football. Flying through the air in a shallow arc, Garrett landed on an already broken booth. He was glad that his skin was so durable, but his concerns were elsewhere right now.

Within the fear, within her heart Amber felt something stirring. Behind her eyes, she could feel her emotions shut off once by one. A darkness brewed in her, a feral darkness that could consume the universe, if left unchecked.

She anticipated a fatal attack. She could feel it. The fear that was ebbing through her told her that was inevitable.

_'...so scared.'_

Time wasn't budging an inch. She could feel it's resistance as she struggled to claim control over it.

Still, the maddening feeling of terror emained.

_Scared. Scared. Scared. Scared. Scared. Scared. Scared. Scared._

_**Scared. Scared. Scared. Scared. Scared. Scared. Scared. Scared**_.

But within that madness was a single speck of sanity, deep within the recesses of her mind. From that portion of her brain, ten words popped out. Ten very simple words. Ten words that would shatter their reality and bring back a monster.

In a steely, frigid voice, she opened her mouth to speak.

"Connecting to the Luxuria archive." A dark miasma began to encircle her as she spoke. "I'm executing my thema…"

* * *

><p><em>Magic A is Magic A<em>

_Magic B is Magic B_

_Magic A plus Magic B equals_

_Magic C?_

* * *

><p><em><strong>What is this powerful presence? Will Angel's servants feel threatened?<strong>_

* * *

><p><em><strong>TN: * Ensis Exsequens = (Executioner's Sword). A high-level, normally unincanted spell. As described, it acts as a sword of pure energy to help slice up te target.**_

_**A/N: Anyone who has a question should speak up. If you have something you want to see or something that needs to be resolved for you, I think I might be able to squeeze it in. If you know a good beta-reader that could help me with my work, then by all means mention us to each other!**_

_**Also, I launched my Patreon page, which I've linked to my fanfiction profile. I'm not using it to support my fanfiction (obviously), but for my original works. I'm also revamping my YouTube channels, which is going to be fun/time-consuming. I also am trying to get a steady job, but I doubt anyone will hire me, still. Hence, the reason for my Patreon.**_

_**I'm also getting ready to launch two more series. One is a manga I'm drawing, but co-wrting with a fellow TvTroper. It's called 'Real-D Kanojo.' I'm trying to get it onto taptastic or smackjeeves. The second series is called 'My Little Youkai', and the free excerpt of the first few chapters is on my Wattpad, which I think I linked on my fanfiction dot net profile.**_

_**Plus, when Minako says "just a mil", it's short for "just a millisecond"**_

_**Stay lovely, everyone!**_


	34. Chapter 32

**_MASS POST WARNING: THIS IS THE FOURTH NEW CHAPTER POSTED. COUNT BACK WARDS FROM THERE, please._**

* * *

><p><strong><em>One note of warning: There is a reason why Yuuko was feared and respected by many people.<em>**

* * *

><p><em>The universe hated me<em>

_it made me replay_

_a never ending tragedy_

_so I wish it would be_

_destroyed_

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 32: I Will Fix Your Broken Dreams<span>

The voice that reverberated from the girl had the undertones of a terrifying frequency. "Connecting to the Luxuria archive. I'm executing my thema…" Smokey mana was gathering around Amber and Jack, dark and thick, like gaseous tar. "Obsidere!"

Anticipating an attack of some sort, Jack released her wrist and sidestepped backwards, out of the gathering miasma.

Instead of an attack, however, something frightening was happening with Amber. In a flash of gold tinged light, her clothes had changed. Instead of the cosplay outfit from before, it was replaced by something entirely new. Heels that covered and stopped just above the knee. Shorts, ones that stopped above the middle of her thighs, a sleeveless buttoned blazer, and even black gloves, had replaced her clothes. All of it, minus the gloves, was skin-tight leather.

Most ominous of all, Amber's eyes were now smiling with a sickly-sweet manner. Likewise, her mouth had formed into a crooked, almost wicked, grin.

Knowing just what this meant, Garrett gaped at her sudden transformation. This was his fault—he could feel it. Worse yet—this fight, it was only going to get even more complicated.

"Fracture," said Amber, snapping her fingers. A sharp cracking, like a whip, echoed in the space. Within a second, a dark scepter materialized in her palm. "Now things are going to get fun, boys," she promised, swinging down the weapon. A wave of unseen power slammed into the ground, hard. It made a visible dent in the floor, and shook the ground like a miniature earthquake. Her attack didn't seem too serious, though, and Thomas and Jack evaded it all too easily.

As Thomas stared at the newly changed girl in front of him, he began to smirk. All the pieces were fitting together so neatly, now. All the rumors about the 'Immortal Sorceress Yuuko' were true. She had tapped into the forbidden archives of magic, after all. "So you show yourself at last, Yuuko."

Nodding, Amber looked ahead to their opponents. This unannounced ceasefire was quite unexpected. "Your colleagues helped to wake me up, darling."

If she was talking about Yui and Arata then it very well was true. This was probably the main reason her magic had been previously sealed.

Jack raised an eyebrow, taking in the sight of her new clothes with unbridled interest. "So Yuuko, how does it feel to be free again? An evil mage like you must surely understand our cause?"

Short bubbles of laughter flew from her lips. Wiping away an ecstatic tear, Amber sighed. "Oh, that's rich! Yeah, I guess I can understand. But you're talking like I'm as bad as the 'Dark Evangel'or something."

"Aren't you?" asked Thomas, feeling his anger blaze at her blasè attitude.

"Nope!" she stepped forward with such speed and force that it appeared as if she were teleporting. "I'm _**worse**_."

Her scepter smashed into Jack's shoulder, misasma following it in a thick trail.

Blood coated the instrument, then. His bones cracked up on impact, and muscles were pulverized.

The sight of his angish. His pain-laden shout. All of it was so thrilling! Tiny droplets of blood sprayed out, some of them gathering on her cheek, and the rest pearling off of her dark clothes. Amber licked her lips and executed a well-timed roundhouse kick to Jack's solar plexus. She had charged it with the dark magic now flowing through her body, so it impacted him more strongly. This, adding to the fact that her legs were mechanical...

Dark liquid spurted out of his mouth. It immediately ran down his chin in a thick stream.

Continuing her meelee attack, she smacked him onto the floor with her scepter.

"Gah!" groaned Jack, hitting the floor with a loud thud.

How long had it been since she unlocked this power? Over two years, it seemed. The last time it had been a situation such as this, but at least then she had Garrett to restrain her from extending herself in this way.

All that time wasted trying to keep the universe in balance. All that time believing in 'hitsuzen'. Waiting for years, decades, centuries… it had darkened and embittered her soul. There was only one person she wanted to see, and that couldn't even be fulfilled. A certain girl was waiting for her, but because of her idiocy, all the magic in the world could not fulfill Yuuko's wish. All because of that man she used to know, she would never reach Elysium. If she even saw Clow again, she would thrash him for cursing her in such a way, but he also was waiting for her. But, then again, he also wasn't.

Thomas weighed his next attack carefully. She had become more powerful in only a few moments. And there also were her friends to account for, but at the moment they were frozen in shock.

"That's right," observed Thomas, his eyes and voice hardening over, "Your soul is beyond even recovery, isn't it? I heard even three of the worst evil mages turned around, but not you, eh?"

His parter panted, his throat gurgling with each breath. Disdain in his glare and blood on his teeth, Jack sneered at Amber.

"You did something taboo, and you were punished for it," spat Jack, looking up at the young lady. "This 'Game' is proof of that."

"Talking like that…you really want to die, don't you?" She giggled darkly and guided her heel into Jack's injured shoulder. Her mouth opened into a seductive 'o'. "I'll be taking everyone's magic, now, okay?" announced Amber in a breathy voice.

Roaring, Thomas shot forward with his sword. The barrier that Jack had erected was still in effect, so Garrett's sword glanced off of him on the first strike.

Still, despite Garrett's failed attempt to protect her, Amber did not move. Instead, she was still and calm like a placid lake. Bringing her right arm up, she swung at the man. In anticipation of this, he brought his sword up at an angle. He guarded against her scepter, but what he had not suspected was the surprise attack on his lips.

_'Mana Drain.'_

The effect was almost immediate.

Clutching at his throat, Thomas fell to his knees, gasping. An overall weakness had pervaded his entire body. Almost immediately his body had warmed up to feverish temperatures.

"What did you do to him?" demanded Jack in a raspy voice.

Amber licked her lips and sighed as if savoring a delicious snack. "Oh his magic is spicy! How delicious. It could use some alcohol to go with it, though."

Looking at his partner in worry, Jack wondered if Thomas was now in worse condition than him. "Answer me…"

"Oh, him? I just ate his magic…no biggie." Savoring the sensations flowing through her, Amber hugged her sides. If one squinted hard enough, they would probably see hearts floating around her. "Mmmmm, so delicious!"

Yet. Waiting in the wings, there was another pair of devious mages looking on in disgust. It seems the butterfly had no shame, even in such a tight situation as this.

"I've seen enough failure for one day," said Angel, descending from the ceiling like a feather. Her waterfall of light blue hair trailed behind in a banner-like wave behind her. Falling beside her was Kamijou Miki, her steadfast partner.

"Yes, Mistress, I agree," said the faithful human servant, casting disapproving looks on all eight brawlers. His most death-dealing glare he saved for their failed duo of mercenaries.

Matching his glare in intensity, Garrett looked ahead and snarled. His blue eyes were glowing with unveiled hatred at the faces of these two.

"I get it now. It was you, Angel. I knew you were behind this," said Garrett, addressing her with the most impolite form of 'you' in Japanese.

Livid, Miki clenched his fists. That Persocom man was dead if he got Miki's hands on him. What utter disrespect! Why, the insolent man needed to be punished for his tone alone. "How dare you address my Master by—,"

In the middle of Kamijou's sentence, Angel placed a finger onto his lips, gently silencing the irate man. Smiling genially at Amber, the Persocom giggled from deep within her throat.

"It's alright, Kamijou…he's always been like this." Nodding towards Amber's partner, she smirked. "Rude as ever, I see."

"What do you want?" asked Amber, folding her arms. "I was just in the middle of a delicious feast, you know."

"A feast, you say?" Angel's eyes now shifted to red. "I don't think you have time for that. Besides, we've just come to rescue these useless lumps here, before you kill them."

Holding his injured shoulder, Jack tried to sit up.

"I'm sorry, Mistress, but she was just too—," sputtered Jack, his eyes fearful, "they all were—,"

"Shut it, you ingrates!" Angel brought her foot crashing onto Thomas' shoulder. He yelled out in pain as she snapped a few of his precious bones without much effort. In only seconds, her face morphed into that of a furious psychopath—crazed and vengeful. Her wide golden eyes were pulsing with an ominous light. "I sent you to injure them, and instead you get whipped?" Her stare darkening, she sneered at the man at her feet as if he were the wriggling larvae of a fly. "Pathetic." She stomped on him again. "Useless." Her heel was really grinding into him now. "Piece. Of. Trash." Each word wrought him even more pain as she punished him for the failed attempt to destroy the key and her comrades.

Amber frowned. Her toy was being ruined by someone other than her. However, at this stage she knew she didn't have enough mana to face Angel head-to-head right now. Standing there with her hands tied, the mageling began to think of possibilities.

When Angel was satisfied with the pitiable squeals that Thomas was making, she wiped her bloodstained shoe on the floor and smiled once more.

However, at that moment a melodious riff of notes rang out, and there was a sudden blast of black energy.

Upon hearing the strange, out of place sound, something in the back of Amber's mind warned her before the magic arced towards them, and she jumped back in time for it to miss her torso.

The explosion kicked up clouds of dust and chunks of carpet and wood.

"What the—," began Minoru, looking forward. He was about to cast a large-scale freezing spell, but paused just in time to see who had sent such a destructive attack. He had thought, from the arrival of these new fiends, that it had come from them, but when he looked at the direction it came from, this was not the case, obviously. As the dust cleared, two lone figures were poised to defend Minoru and his friends.

"Hey there, kiddo," said the silver haired man in a black tuxedo. In his hands was a violin. "Sorry we're late."

Next to him was a blue-haired woman dressed like a knight. She had two shining swords aimed at Angel and Kamijou. "Need some help?"

"Uncle Kami!?" shouted Minoru, several surprised neurons firing in his brain. "Auntie Saya?"

"One and the same," they both replied.

Much like before when remembering that once-lost magic, Amber felt a glimmer of recognition in her mind.

"Kyousuke-kun?"

"Nice to see you remember us," said the man dryly, rolling his eyes.

Having been slightly abandoned, Thomas and Jack weren't too pleased with the new arrivals busting up their party. Sure, they'd been beaten up a little, but for Angel and Kamijou to come help was a little humiliating. These other new faces, though, made both men wary, so maybe it was good that their co-conspirators arrived.

"Who might you two be?" asked Angel softly. Their faces were ringing several bells, but for some reason she had no data on the people who had just arrived. This certainly was anomalous. To look up the names of two humans using the Internet was too troublesome at this point for her to care, though.

"Section Chief Kamijou Kyousuke," said the man.

"Section Chief Sayaka Miki," announced the woman. "We're bringing you in for questioning, thanks."

Glancing behind him with a serious look, Kyousuke readied his bow. "I hereby deputize you six. Help us detain these criminals."

'This was the support that Junji had been talking about?' thought Garrett with alarm.

* * *

><p>...<p>

The music of the battle. It rang out in waves of sound.

Whole jumping into the air, Sayaka drew in the air with swords. Trails of blue light followed the tips of the blades. When the pattern she wanted was complete, she released the energy.

"Blue Track!" shouted the woman in French. The pattern spring to life, and a euphony of notes played out. Coupling this with Kyousuke's own attack of "Steel Harmony", the blue wave only was boosted in intensity. For a moment it jarred both Angel and her partner, but the young woman was on her feet faster than her human. He had begun to bleed from the ears, however, which severely affected his balance. This, though, did not stop him for long.

"Amber, we need to end this," warned Garrett harshly. He was running towards Angel, with his blade at his side. She was prepared for this, and cut short his attack by slicing the air with her own weapon, a dual-bladed monstrosity called 'The Queen's Scepter'. It had two curved swords facing the same direction, with a handle in the middle for her to grab.

Meanwhile, Yuzuki had continued raining down magically-charged bullets. Next to her, Minoru had used a wide-scale wind-spell to help them aim. Behind even them, Chii released a cloud of petals, which exploded in tiny bombs of light when it reached the two enemies. Angel and her blade sliced through the explosions, though.

"I'm thinking, you idiot!" said Amber, blocking Kamijou's bare-handed punches with her palms reinforced with magic. He was surprisingly quick, especially for someone so tall. He was able to fend off even Hideki's improving slashes at the same time. He only used his bare palms to do so, which was even more worrisome.

"Garrett, formation Omega!" barked Amber, her mind settling on a very dangerous spell, indeed. If executed right, it could bring down the convention center. If done wrong…they all could die. Luckily she had a good success rate with spells, or else she would have been thoroughly worried.

"Rodger!"

Minoru and the others had heard about this before, Garrett and Amber's attack patterns. The few the duo had forced them to memorize were good to know. For example, this one meant 'get the hell out of the way!', so it wasn't hard to imagine what was happening next. Yuzuki pocketed her artefact as fast as…well, not humanly, but as fast as a frantic Persocom could move. She used the freeness of her arms to scoop up Minoru and run away in this moment.

He didn't object to this, but his worry was placed on his aunt and uncle, who were still fighting.

Hideki also took the opportunity to take up Chii and leave in a manner not dissimilar to Yuzuki's.

Thankfully, the two 30-year olds understood that they were retreating. They didn't seem happy about doing, so, but if everyone else was hauling themselves away, they might as well follow suit.

Mustering as much mana as she could find, Amber prepared for the attack. Even the trace amounts found in her surroundings she took in. Even the amount she had stolen from Thomas was being used.

Angel and Kyousuke were trying to follow the retreating heroes, but they were too late. Amber had already filled in the rest of the equation, and was pouring in all of her energy…

Her eyes were looking into the past and watching the future all at once. A sense of saddening nostalgia washed over her soul.

"By the grace of Yggdrasil, come forth, Impaler..." With the weight of her feelings behind it, Amber swung down her scepter. "GUNGIR!"

A light from the ceiling, more blinding than the sun, and even wider than a truck, shot down from heaven, from Elysium itself. It impacted the ground with an intensity that could only be described as 'divine punishment'.

* * *

><p>Lowering her bow, a pink-haired goddess cried. Her tears crystalline and pure, they were filled with relief. Her friend had called upon her strength once more.<p>

It was the last time she was allowed to do so freely.

* * *

><p>...<p>

It seemed Kokubunji's house really was becoming their base of operations. More specifically, his office was the largest hub of activity.

"So you're his uncle?" asked Amber cautiously.

"You sound surprised," said Kyousuke, cracking a flirtatious smile.

Ignoring his cheesy grin, Amber sighed dispassionately and rubbed her temples. "I am, honestly."

"Kyousuke. You talk like you know her." Shock and confusion poured into Sayaka's tone then, as her eyes flit between Kamijou and the bored-looking heiress sitting across from them.

"I do," he said, furrowing his brow. "Don't you recognize her?"

Feeling jealousy rise within her chest, Sayaka pouted. "Come on, you don't really believe the lore behind this ridiculous contest, right?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Because it's crazy. She couldn't possibly be Yuuko. Not ever. I think I would recognize her when I see it."

Sayaka was always the skeptic, wasn't she?

Amber sighed and closed her eyes. Thinking back, before this life, wasn't as hard as it used to be. After the seal on her magic had been removed, everything seemed to flow into one another. New memories, old memories, they were there. She simply had to sort through them.

Frowning at what she saw, Amber opened her eyes. She looked right through Sayaka with an intense glare that could cleave diamonds asunder. Now she could remember why she disliked this woman so much. Even now, Sayaka was still naïve and optimistic. How foolish. Somehow, the blue-haired woman was still surviving as a Puella Magi despite being so old, now.

"Really, Sayaka? Would you truly recognize me?" While glancing harshly at the woman with aqua eyes, Amber sneered. "Did becoming a Puella Magi make all your dreams come true? Did it solve your insecurity-complex?"

"How did you—,"

Amber smiled, though she knew she ought not to. "Are you happy? Does he love you, now?"

Her eyes had scanned Kyousuke for a brief moment before returning to Sayaka's shocked face.

Stirring within Amber's eyes was that same, weary look: a look of despair so deep that it could consume the universe. A memory, one from a confrontation in a hallway came to mind. It was only now Sayaka that knew that the insult she had been given had held no real malice—just frustration and sadness.

Even though that girl had been so mean to her, even though that girl had stolen her best friend away, even so… Sayaka felt her heart move. Pity swirled within her soul like a winding whirlpool. Staring into that girl's eyes, Sayaka opened her mouth to speak. For a few moments she couldn't make a sound, but after a short silence she found her voice.

"Akemi?" asked the blue-haired woman who felt like a child once again.

Now that was a name she hadn't used in forever.

"In the flesh," said Amber, not too happy about it. The bitter frown was evidence enough of her discomfort. A lifetime of memories were crammed into her soul, so it wasn't always easy to pick through the events. However, these two were almost written in indelible ink—they couldn't be ignored once they presented themselves. Unlike Amber's thema, they had not been temporarily lost—she was just trying not to remember. "But please, don't call me that anymore. That girl died alongside her best friend. Yuuko is fine. I prefer my current name, though."

On the other side of the door to the office, six curious ears were pressed to the door. Chii, Hideki, Garrett, Minoru, Kojima, and Kotoko were all eavesdropping on the conversation. For the past hour, Minoru had been resting in his room from the strain of the earlier battle. He still had trouble processing that his aunt uncle were mages. Now, though, at this juncture he had decided to join these troublemakers in their shenanigans.

"What kind of conversation is this?" asked Kojima. Past lives? Old names? Dark magics? He knew this girl was strange. He knew she was dangerous. But now, Kojima realized this girl was more than tnat; she was downright terrifying. Yuzuki had shared with Kotoko the footage of what transpired. By his cakuculations, due to his research, the mana generated and used to accomplish what she did was extremely dense. It was on the level of a Paladin class mage.

Yet all this time she had not been able to use it? Just suspicious.

"It's a long story," said Garrett.

"Well, you know some of it at least," said Hideki.

"Motosuwa is right, if you know something about these two, you need to inform us."

"You do realize how close you all came to death, right? More information about Miss Lee-Young could have helped." Yuzuki chided them gently.

"Chii!"

"Why don't you six just go in? Lord Minoru, this is your own home, after all," added the blue-haired maid, sighing.

Minoru blinked in realization. "Right."

* * *

><p>...<p>

"Home are the hunters back from the hills!" announced Kojima, barging into the room like he owned the place.

"Hello, everyone," said Sayaka. She looked askance with a slightly guilty pair of eyes. Behind him filed the rest of the crew, looking a bit guilty themselves.

"Sup?" said Kyousuke casually, saluting them with two fingers.

"Hey," intoned Amber unhappily.

Getting straight to the point, a little blondie blurted out her most burning desire. Pointing at her friend, the Persocom said, "Chii wants to know why Amber went all berserk earlier!"

"B-berzerk?" Amber said, looking confused. She knew she had gone overboard, but … 'berzerk' felt a little too crazy for her liking.

"You know, the super-scary but fully awesome display of magical ability that Yuzuki sent us?" asked Kojima. "I can't believe we missed it!"

"Oh, that." After releasing the spell, she had passed out and reverted to her old clothes as the stadium collapsed around her, but Garrett had been there in time to fish her out of the rubble. Well, if going all out like that was 'berzerk', then it had been a necessary thing.

"It's happened before, but you refused to explain at the time," said a certain perverted Chobit.

"Shut it, Garrett," muttered Amber, looking into her lap with a warm face.

Irritated, he wagged a finger at her. "Don't tell me to shut it! You nearly killed someone the first time, and if I hadn't stopped you again, what would have happened?"

Glaring at him in defiance, she snorted.

"Really, you think I'd go that far?"

"I know you'd go that far!" shouted the young man, gesturing wildly.

Brushing it off as easily as one would a ladybug, Amber simulated amusement. "Ha! What do you know? You're a bucket of bolts now! Your brains must have gotten scrambled in the transfer!"

Offended that she would say something so hurtful, he raised his voice even more. "My brains are just fine, thank you. You're the sack of meat with brain damage!"

Her eye widening, Amber felt herself getting angry as well. "Oh, touché! You really know how to cut to the bone, you rude, vulgar, man!"

Leaning closer to her, he practically growled, "At least I don't prance around pretending I don't have a problem, you passive aggressive twit!"

"Careful, dear, your accents showing," said Amber sardonically, denoting the tinge of Australian left over from his early years of living down-under.

Scoffing, he pointed at her. "You're one to talk. At least I don't talk like a valley-girl."

"This coming from the guy who hid his accent at school? Rich I tell you, richer than me, and that's pretty. Darn. Rich!"

It was then someone began laughing. They had tried to stifle it, but it eventually burst out of them like a balloon popping. Loud and raucous, it echoed in the living room.

"..."

Everyone else looked at the person in astonished silence. They really were laughing it up, weren't they?

Clearing his throat, Minoru shot the hysterical young man a Look of contempt. "Motosuwa, I hardly think that what they're saying is funny."

Stopping his laughter abruptly, Hideki reddened slightly.

"Ah! Sorry it's just..." he scratched the back of his head, "you two are acting like you're married."

Next thing Hideki knew, Amber and Garrett were ranting at him, their faces colored like a pair of red delicious apples.

* * *

><p>...<p>

Just to overcome the shock of the whole accident, Shawn had to trick himself into thinking this was a game. He and Dr. Ravensdale leaned over the cryogenic tube, peering down at the young man inside. Shawn knew his daughter was okay, so worrying over her was futile. However, he still worried. Not for her physical state, but her mental state. He had to use a BMI chip implanted in her brain in order to allow her legs to follow her commands. The technology had come such a far ways from when he was a child. Back then, they were still putting chips in the motor-sensory cortex, where commands were carried out, and not the region for planning movement. The difference was clearer than night and day. Still, her brain had been damaged slightly.

That wasn't the only thing on his mind, though.

If this procedure didn't work out, and the boy died, how would Ravensdale and his wife feel?

Worse, how would Amber feel?

His daughter was, if anything, passionate, and if Garrett didn't make it, she would no doubt blame herself. Losing her legs and her boyfriend would probably kill her. She might probably kill herself.

Shawn swallowed his thoughts and said evenly, "Handel, get ready the MRI and the lasers."

Dr. Ravensdale nodded curtly and scuffled off to gather the items.

Years ago, when the research was still new, scientists had found ways to copy memories. Transplanting them into other subjects was also possible. However, the clearer and more precise the memory they copied, the less the first subject would remember it.

It was like when transferring data from one AI crystal to another. For 100% of the data to transfer correctly, the other crystal had to be destroyed.

They had to work quickly before Garrett's body warmed up even one degree.

"So," said Shawn, placing the handheld MRI above the chamber, "what made you choose on that design?"

Noticing that Dr. Lee-Young was trying to distract him from going into shock, Handel shrugged and indulged the small-talk. He was talking about the Chobit's body connected to the power supply on the far end of the room. It had been an in-joke in his family, actually, proposed by his son. He had been sitting around the dining table, talking about a project at work they were working on, omitting the obvious details, of course.

When Garrett had heard they were experimenting with new personality matrices, the suggestion had suddenly popped into existence.

_"Can the experimental Persocom look like me?"_

Normally that was a definite no-no. But seeing as the Persocom would probably never leave the lab, it was possible.

Handel, while recounting this tale, wiped away a stray tear.

It would take half an hour to scan his brain fully. It would take the same about to transcribe his brain's architecture. Transferring the data would take less time, but as much as he dreaded it, this would definitely kill his son. If not the accident, then this would, if it didn't work.

_'Please, God, make this work…'_

As they encoded the memories with the portable MRI, a wireless signal was transmitting them to the etching machine that held the AI crystal. As it worked, the electrodes inside the cryogenic tube that monitored his vitals began transmitting data to the console nearby the empty body of the Chobit.

However, when reaching the parts of the brain that were damaged in the crash, there came a snag. Some of the memories were corrupted. A tiny section of the brain, from what Shawn could see, was affected by magic.

"CRAP!"

He rushed over to the console to sort out and isolate the erroneous strings. If they leeched into the main program, then he'd have some serious problems. His sense of self was already detached, due to being sedated, but he had to keep an a close eye on this.

"Handel, keep the MRI running, I have to separate this memory from the rest!"

Alarmed at this declaration, Dr. Ravensdale paled. "Wait, Shawn, what if you make another personality?"

There was the possibility of that, but there was no time to quibble.

"Never mind that now, he'll have to integrate later! He might crash if I don't fix it!"

A few frantic clacking strokes on the computer console, and he was tracking down the source of the trauma. The MRI wasn't looking good, but it would have to do. Tracing the memories was getting harder as the process went deeper into the brain.

"It's no use, Shawn, we need more power!"

"I know! I know." At this rate, they were going to lose him. No way could he keep up with all these errors! He needed a Persocom to help. Any Persocom.

As he siphoned away the damaged sectors, a light bulb went off.

"Handel, I need you to bring Elda and Freya here, right now!"

"Shawn?"

What in heaven's name was he thinking, using Mihara's daughters? Sure, they had more than enough computing power, but if something went wrong…

"Do you want him to live or not?!"

Handel opened his cellphone and dialed Chitose. When the Japanese woman picked up the phone, Handel licked his lips. At the rate they were going, the doctor was on the brink of failing. However, Shawn only had to hold on until the cavalry arrived.

"I need to speak to Ichirou…"

_'Please, God, make this work!'_

* * *

><p><em>I trained even harder<em>

_I wanted to be better_

_I became much faster_

_I needed to be stronger_

_More than anyone knew_

_I knew the hour was drawing near_

_Ever so close, it crept_

_After me, it stalked my progress_

_Even though our sins were small_

_The universe never forgets_

_Every sin is never forgotten_

_Until your life is over_

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: I just got to see Big Hero 6. Now I'm writing a fanfiction script for an imagined sequel, starring Amber and Garrett with different names: Arianna and Andy. It'll be PG, I THINK. I'll either post it or send it to Disney.**_

_**Oh, and of course, Angel and Kamijou are far different than the two mages who appear in this chapter. For one, Sayaka and Kyosuke are older. Second, they're not evil. Third, well, you'll have to guess.**_

_**The Persocom mangaka's name in this chapter is a shoutout to one of my favorite fanfiction writers, if you didn't catch it.**_

_**Additionally, when I described Amber's voice as having a terrifying frequency, I was thinking of a certain sound frequency, one that scientists call 'the ghost frequency' that causes unease within human listeners. When I hear it, it feels like someone is sneaking up behind me.**_

_**And if you're wondering about the science behind Garrett's rebirth, it's absolutely true. Scientists have inserted memories and recorded memories. They just need to recreate more detail in some cases. They use an MRI, too. It's all in Michio Kaku's book "The future of the mind".**_

_**Five Chapters Left! (Including the Epilogue)**_


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